A Tale of Hearts
by SammyQuill
Summary: A modern day fairy tale was not something Sakura wanted. Fate, unfortunately, had different ideas.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter I – In Which Kakashi Leaves**

"Hokage-sama, here are the papers you requested," Nara Shikaku bowed respectfully once to Tsunade and a second time to the Mizukage sitting opposite the huge mahogany desk.

"Arigatou_,_ Nara-san," Tsunade inclined her head slightly before turning to the matter at hand. "Would Mizukage-sama like to have a look as well?"

The Mizukage had barely nodded when her aide reached out for the document, skimming through it quickly but efficiently, Shikaku had no doubt. This was it, the contract that had taken months to finalize. Every detail had been gone over as closely as possible by both the Konoha and Kiri's paperwork department – assuring that all details were as clear as possible and that no party would try to take advantage of this friendly trial treaty.

The aide nodded once to the Mizukage who said, "Everything seems to be in order." And Shikaku let out a sigh of relief. This was not the first time a meeting such as this had been held but someone had always found some loophole in the document and it was back to the drawing board from there. Well, Shikaku supposed there really _was _something to be said about third times being the charm.

"I trust your jounin list is ready, Hokage-sama?" The Mizukage raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

"Of course, as is yours, I believe."

Right on cue, Shikaku and the aide exchanged the documents containing the names of the five jounin who had volunteered for the program. Shikaku hoped his face revealed nothing but the usual bland mixture of politeness and boredom as he handed over the lives of five of Konoha's most able ninja to Kiri.

?!-!?-?!-!?

Sakura couldn't think… no, this couldn't be happening…. It had to be a rumor, it just _had _to be.

Yes, that's it. It was all just village gossip, probably bred at the bath house as a product of some bored Kunoichi's imagination. Weren't they saying just last week that Anko was shagging Iruka-sensei? And Sakura knew for a fact that Iruka-sensei was as gay as they come.

Sakura tried to slow her pace to a jog. It wouldn't do to attract this much attention from people on the streets. No, all she really had to do was find him, ask him if— no, tell him about the stupid rumors she'd heard and then they'll both laugh about it. Yes, and who knows, they might even go for a drink afterwards…

_Oh crap!_

"Ow, Sakura-chan, where's the fire?"

"Kakashi's apartment, do you know where it is, Izumo-san?"

"It's in the same building as Genma and Shizune-san's, on the fourth floor but—"

"Thanks!" and with that, Sakura was already gone, leaving a very puzzled Izumo in her wake. "

?!-!?-?!-!?

He supposed he should be feeling sad about leaving Konoha. After all, it was his home. But then again, Kakashi had accepted the mission willingly. So perhaps that was the reason why he didn't feel any remorse – not for the village anyway.

But that was a path he didn't let his mind wander down. No… best to keep those particular feelings at bay. Perhaps a term in the miserable, wet lands of Mist would do him good. It certainly ought to clear his head of a certain pink-haired kunoichi who seemed to have become a regular in his dreams these days.

If Kakashi tried to pinpoint it exactly – and he had, countless times – he couldn't tell when it was exactly that Sakura had stopped being a kid, his pupil, and started being an equal. It had certainly not been that way when she had been made chunin. His opinion of her as a kunoichi had changed a very long time ago for the better but the Copy Ninja was honestly perplexed as to when she'd stopped being his student and became a friend. He'd not even realized when she stopped calling him sensei – only that she had started using his name alone. And that he rather liked the sound of it coming from her pink, moist lips.

However, he did remember the moment when he realized he felt a lot more for her than he should – with crystal clarity no less. It was exactly two months ago as he watched her from the stands while she fought in the last round of the jounin exams. She was up against a particularly vicious shinobi from Grass and there had been no pretenses from the start. Her opponent had meant to kill her or die trying.

At that moment, it took everything the silver haired jounin had to restrain himself from jumping off the stands to defend the girl who was clearly going to lose her life within the next few minutes. Her left calf was badly mangled and her skin was covered in cuts ranging from minor to fatal. He had wanted to do something, anything, to not lose another person who was important to him. But in the end, he couldn't. All he could do was have faith in his Sakura and her training. Even though she was unable to move and was almost completely out of chakra, he had hoped – willed – that she'd come out of it as the victor.

And she had. Even now, it brought a smile to his face to recall how his former student had been feinting. How, as the Grass nin neared her to add insult to injury and finish her off at close range with nothing but a kunai, the ground around their feet exploded into smithereens. The fight had ended with a badly hurt Sakura and the cleaning crew picking off whatever was left of that bastard from the field to be shipped back to his family.

"Oh look, someone finally decided to show up." Ibiki's sarcastic bark jolted him out of his reverie. No matter, Kakashi was only fifteen minutes late, a new record for him. Why, he was almost on time. He must be getting old.

?!-!?-?!-!?

"Kotetsu-san, where's Kakashi?" Sakura halted to a stop as she neared the gates, a sinking feeling already starting at the pit of her stomach – a feeling she had forcefully swallowed down when she found Kakashi's apartment locked and bolted.

"Sakura-chan! Oh, they left about an hour ago. They were supposed to leave earlier but Hatake-san was late as usual and… Sakura-chan?! What's wrong?"

_No_, _no_, _no_, dammit, she was _not_ going to cry. Not here, not in front of Izumo. Not on the street where anyone could bear witness to it. Then why were these stupid tears leaking out of her eyes?

For someone who had so much command over bodily functions, she sure as hell didn't know how to keep a few stupid tears away.

She could see genuine concern on Kotetsu's face and she didn't blame him. He and Izumo were almost like brothers to her. They had been with her since she was a genin, they had watched her grow, had been cheering the loudest when she cleared her chunin exams and were practically crying as she was being taken to the hospital after making jounin. They had seen Sakura happy, hurt, overworked alongside themselves until Tsunade's tough rule, studying up in the library at ungodly hours before a surgery. But they had never seen her like this, crying in the middle of the street as though her heart had literally broken in two.

Dimly, she was aware of Kotetsu's tall frame beside her and his arms encircling her in a hug. And for that moment, she was especially grateful that at least someone was going to stick around.

?!-!?-?!-!?

"Shizune! Is she here?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama, I'll send her in now."

The young medic entered the office she'd been to countless times before. However, this time was different. A knot was slowly forming in her stomach, telling her something bad was going to happen.

"Good morning, Lady Tsunade."

"Yes, yes, skip the formalities, girl." The Godaime waved her hands in the air but instead of relaxing the medic, it only made the knot in her stomach tighten.

She nodded respectfully, waiting for the Hokage to continue.

"Now, I could start by telling you about our recent treaty with Mist and how we're going through a – what do you call it? – a 'Ninja Exchange' program of sorts, but I have a feeling you already know of it?'

Oh no, this was going to be bad… really bad. Trying not to sound sick, she said "The information is supposed to be confidential, Hokage-sama."

"Not anymore. Or did you think that anyone wouldn't notice five Kiri nin walking around Konoha and carrying out missions alongside us for the next three months, girl? The information was only confidential until our men left so no one could interfere with their decision to leave Konoha. The same rules apply to the Mist nin who are coming over here." The blonde clarified. "And in any case, since when have things like privacy and confidentiality stopped you from gossiping, Yamanaka?"

Ino had the good grace to blush. It was times like these when she was extremely grateful half her face was hidden by her hair.

"Anyway, as I'm sure you know, our men left yesterday and the shinobi from Mist are expected to be here by noon. However, we need someone—"

"Hokage-sama, please, I don't want to go to Kiri!" Ino tried to quell the panic in her chest. She had known they would need a Konoha medic in Kiri. Hell, _she_ was the one who had it figured out when the contract was still being drawn and the clause about each village respecting the other's secrets was being refined. According to the papers, no ninja from Konoha was obliged to go through close examination by Kiri's forces and vice-versa. Kiri had its own bloodline limit secrets to protect and just living in each other's country would be enough of a security breach to each military village. The treaty was to foster trust and camaraderie between the two opposing nations but that didn't mean either party playing the game was dense.

Shikamaru – whining as always – had been the one to tell Ino about the stupidity of the whole thing. It was Ino who had pointed out the possibility – or probability – of a ninja getting hurt and therefore, forced to be examined by the Kiri medics which had led to the insertion of yet another clause within the ever growing contract. Of course, since Ino was not supposed to know about it, she had let Shikamaru take the credit for thinking it up and it had been easy enough for him to mention this to Shikaku who – being Head Jounin - was in charge of overseeing the project.

"What are you talking about, you stupid girl?"

"I know we need a medic in Kiri… And, well, no one's been assigned yet… I'm sorry, Lady Tsunade. But I really don't want to go."

"Yamanaka, is it not your duty as a kunoichi to go wherever the village assigns you?"

"But ma'am, I– "

"Enough! If it were in my hands, you would be the one going, especially given your attitude. As it is, the assigned medic already left this morning and should be arriving in Kiri just after our own men."

Even through the shame she was feeling, Ino couldn't help but be relieved. She would not have to leave Konoha, she would be right here, at home.

"I'm sorry, Hokage-sama," the blonde chunin tried to sound as apologetic as she could.

"And so am I. I must say I never expected this of you, Yamanaka. I had called you in earlier to let you know that you would be covering half of Sakura's shifts at the hospital alongside your own but in light of your behavior; you're to spend all your free time covering her shifts. I was going to have Shizune and Aya take care of the rest of the empty slots but they have plenty of other things to do. Besides, since you're going to be in Konoha, the least you can do is work the graveyard shift five times a week."

"Yes… Tsunade-sama."

"Well then, you can start right now."

"But Tsunade-sama, why does Sakura need to be covered for? I mean is she…?" the young medic almost quelled under the glare the Hokage was giving her.

"Yamanaka, it's people like _you_ who give blondes a bad name. Did I not just tell you that the Konoha medic left for Kiri this morning?"

"Y-yes, Hokage-sama…" and with a hasty bow, Ino fled the office.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II – In Which Sakura Walks**

Sakura loved traveling the ninja way. Jumping lightly from tree to tree with the wind in her hair made her feel as graceful as a butterfly. Her chakra precision made it so easy for her to fly from limb to limb, undisturbed by gravity, that she could actually let her mind wander to other thoughts. Though truth be told, her thoughts weren't nearly as pleasant as they would usually be under the circumstances.

She had thought all was over when Kotetsu had confirmed the departure of the ninja for Mist. And for the first time in a long time, she had not wanted to punch something into oblivion out of anger or frustration; she had just wanted to cry. Sakura suppressed a shudder at the thought of being thirteen again.

When Sasuke had left, all she had done was cry and depend on others. Until she had forced herself to stop being such a baby and do something about it. A few years later, when Naruto had turned up at her doorstep to say goodbye, she had wanted to cry but she'd stopped herself. It would not do to see him off with such a face. He needed his friend to be strong, so he could bring Sasuke back. That's how it had been from then on. Everyone expected her to be strong. She was the kunoichi who could blast the training ground apart, the only female jounin of her group. She was not allowed to cry.

But she couldn't help herself when it had seemed like Kakashi – the very last member of team seven – was going to desert her too. And ashamed as she was of her outburst in front of Kotetsu, it had made her realize something.

"_It's going to be okay, Sakura-chan. He'll be back in a couple of months."_

"_I don't know if I can wait that long… I think I love him…"_

"_Hmm, so you finally figured it out, huh?"_

To say that Kotetsu had caught her off guard would have been an understatement but that wasn't important now. All that mattered was his quick thinking in taking her to the Hokage's office and begging Tsunade to send Sakura to Kiri instead. Sakura didn't know why the medic hadn't left with the ninja themselves and frankly, she couldn't care less. The important thing was that she was going to Kiri… to Kakashi.

Of course, what she'd say to him when she saw him was a different matter altogether.

?!-!?-?!-!?

"Mizukage-sama, permission to enter!"

"Come in, Shuu, you don't have to be so formal you know," Mei answered with a light wink. He was new to the office, he'd learn soon enough.

"My sincerest apologies, Mizukage-sama!" the boy replied valiantly, his back ramrod straight. Mei hoped he wouldn't start saluting anytime soon.

"So, what is it you wanted, Shuu-kun?" purred Mei, fluttering her eyelashes for good measure. It wouldn't do to make things too somber around here now, would it?

"W-we..." stuttered the intern before composing himself and starting in his formal tone again. "We have just received word from the Hokage."

"Really, why didn't you say so earlier?" snapped Mei, all traces of her previous good mood vanished. That blasted Tsunade was going to give her white hair one of these days.

"I-I tri-"

"Well, get on with it then, Shuu. What is it now? I swear, if it's about another treaty edit I'll… "

"Oh no, Mizukage-sama. It's not about the treaty. Well, not about editing the contract anyway…" the boy tried to placate the red head as best he could.

"Well, what does Konoha want then? I doubt the Hokage wrote to ask of my health. I hear that privilege is only extended to the Kazekage."

"It's about their medic, ma'am. He apparently can't make it because he was injured so they're sending a replacement. Haruno Sakura, female, Jounin, eighteen years of age. Her mission records look impressive, Lady Mizukage."

"Hmm," Mei tapped her chin thoughtfully at this new bit of information. "Tell me Shuu, does that name sound familiar?"

"No ma'am!"

"Well, it does to me. Go check with intel to see what they can dig up on this Haruno Sakura."

"Yes, Lady Mizukage, right away!" and with that, the intern left for the intel division.

?!-!?-?!-!?

Kakashi tried to suppress a shudder. Had Mist always been this cold?

Chuckling slightly to himself, he idly wondered if he really _was_ getting too old. Having left his thirty second birthday behind more than a few months ago, Kakashi sometimes felt the weight of all his years. If he'd ever felt so before, close friends had always taken him out drinking and he'd wake up with a hangover the next morning as a reminder of what happened when you became too melancholy. But as the years passed away, so did most of his friends. And his new ones were all either getting married, settling down or too young to do so themselves. And drinking with Gai was akin to suicide. Because after you were too drunk to resist, he carried you all the way to his apartment (piggy back, no less) and made you listen to his "secret mistress" poetry.

Yes, some things were worth leaving Konoha for. Of course, in a few months, Kakashi would probably miss Gai and his sonnets of youthful love (though he'd rather swallow his own chidori than admit it).

But if he was honest with himself, it wasn't Gai's passion for the written word that had made Kakashi accept the position of temporary Kiri ninja. Not by a long shot.

"Wanna smoke?"

A proffered box of cigarettes jolted Kakashi out of his thoughts. Belatedly, he realized it was one of the men he had seen in his "introduction" to the Mist ninja upon arrival.

"No thanks," he replied as he tried to remember the man's name.

"What, folk in Konoha don't smoke?"

"_I_ don't smoke." His name was Shida, or Shira, or something like that.

"You're Hatake, right? You're famous," Shida or Shira said. However, he did not sound like he meant to give a compliment.

Choosing not to answer, Kakashi merely shrugged. If the ninja was looking for a fight, he would have to go elsewhere because Kakashi was not in the mood.

"Heard you killed Momochi Zabuza, and that runt, Suigetsu. That true?"

"That was a while ago," replied Kakashi with another shrug.

"Yeah well, people don't forget." And even though the Mist nin's eyes were not on Kakashi, his demeanor made his words clear.

"Look, I apologize if they were friends of yours but their deaths at my hands have already been cleared by both Konoha and Kiri. And if you're trying to warn me about something, don't bother. Your concern is very touching but I can take care of myself." Kakashi had just about had it. He was thousands of miles away from home, cold to the bone in the damned mist that never let up and all he wanted was some alone time.

And now he was being kept from it because some wannabe tough guy was bored. Kakashi swore to himself if Shida or Shira or whatever the hell his name was didn't let up in the next twenty seconds, Kakashi would simply poof away from here. To hell with being diplomatic.

"Whoa there, tiger. I was just gonna say thanks for cleanin' up our dirty waterbeds. Them two were assholes who gave all of Kiri a bad name. I see they did it good."

"Oh… sorry."

"S'okay. You prolly had some assumptions 'bout us the same's we had some 'bout you. And now I owe Shida fifty lira."

Hmm, so this man wasn't Shida. Great, now Kakashi would have to find a tactful way of asking his name. "Why, what did you bet?"

"That you'd be a real asshole. I'm Asano, by the way," the maroon haired ninja extended a thick hand.

"Thanks Asano, I think that's the nicest welcome I've gotten today," replied Kakashi with a chuckle, taking the offered hand. "And by the way, you can probably split fifty-fifty with Shida, I'm not as nice as I look."

"You wish, Hatake, you wish."

?!-!?-?!-!?

Sakura had not known what awaited her at the other end what with not being an official part of the treaty from the beginning but she sure as hell hadn't expected this. If she was true to herself, a part of her had fantasized about running into Mist and falling into Kakashi's waiting arms as she professed her love for him. Just the thought of her stupid fantasy made her blush as she now stood at customs, at the border of the Land of Water. Her papers stating her job and her involvement in the treaty excused her body from any examination but that didn't mean her small traveling bag could bypass scrutiny. As it is, the custom official seems to be determined to find a hidden weapon of mass destruction in her backpack, hidden no doubt underneath her extra underwear or inside her bubble gum flavored pink lip gloss.

_Not today, boys_, she thought to herself as a particularly surly looking man handed her the bag grudgingly.

"Everything all right then?" Sakura asked cheekily, well aware that she was not earning any favors.

"We're keeping these," the man grunted, pointing to her tweezers and shaving razor. "Falls under category of unauthorized weapons."

Sakura wondered if she should point out that if she'd really meant to hurt, she would have done so with plenty of "authorized" weapons that she was allowed to carry before resorting to her personal grooming equipment but decided to let it go. The sooner she got done here, the sooner she'd see Kakashi.

"How far from here to Mist?" she asked, trying to keep her tone polite.

"You can't go there by yourself, missy. Misaki here will be taking you. It's a couple hours trek from here to the docks where you'll have to wait for a boat to take you to the village itself," he said.

"Of course, since your arrival was not sanctioned up until yesterday, we haven't had time to arrange a proper boat. You might have to wait a bit for someone to come pick you up." He added nastily.

?!-!?-?!-!?

Sakura had been waiting at the run down jetty for more than three hours and not as much as a raft was anywhere in sight. The wind had picked up considerably since Misaki had left after giving a vague nod about the boat's arrival in an hour or so and wishing her a completely hollow and insincere good luck.

_So much for fostering camaraderie_, thought Sakura bitterly, wrapping her traveling cloak tighter around herself.

Sakura wondered if she should just give up on the boat coming anytime tonight and make camp. The thought of a crackling fire and a tent which held back the damp mist was tempting but her pride would not let her just give up. She was a kunoichi of Konoha, wasn't she? She didn't need a damn boat to get to the village; she could probably walk all the way there. After all, wasn't chakra control her specialty? She'd been walking on water since the age of twelve so a few miles would be no problem for her.

Taking off her cloak and stuffing it in her thankfully waterproof bag, she tentatively stepped onto the water. Would her boots hold up? They were tough but would they survive the journey to Mist without being damaged beyond repair?

Deciding that she didn't give a damn, she set out at a quick pace, not exactly running but moving fast enough to keep her chakra flow steady and make good time.

?!-!?-?!-!?

"Mizukage-sama, we've just received word from customs that Haruno Sakura has passed. They've yet to arrange a boat for her but suffice to say she'll be here shortly," reported the intern as smartly as he could.

"Thank you, Shuu-kun. Now I want you to do something very special for our guest." The red head simpered.

"Ye-yes, Ma'am." The young man nodded. He was getting used to the Mizukage's strange mood swings.

"Haruno-san is a very important guest, no? We need to make sure she's welcomed properly," the Mizukage said innocently, making her aide shiver slightly

"H-Hai!"

"Shuu-kun, would you be a dear and assign the task of picking her up to Koi-san?"

"But, Mei-sama, Koi is… not well at the moment…" Shuu stuttered.

"Oh, did the poor thing have too much sake and pass out again?" The Mizukage raised her eyebrows in mock surprise, the picture of sympathy. "I hope he's getting proper treatment. Can't risk the health of my men for outsiders now, can I? Just wait till Koi-san gets better and then he can go fetch Haruno-san."

"Y-Yes ma'am, I'll notify Koi, I mean, Koi-san, immediately… when he wakes up." The bewildered chunin replied.

"Arigatou, Shuu-kun," the Mizukage purred.

?!-!?-?!-!?

Okay, so walking all the way to Mist was not one of Sakura's best ideas. But it was too late to head back seeing as she had no idea where the tiny jetty was. The stars she had hoped would guide her along with the basic knowledge of Kiri's geography she had learned for the written part of her chunin exams were not in her favor. The mist was so thick, she could barely see two steps in front of her and for all she knew, all of the island could be protected by a Genjutsu and made to look like the rest of the waters. And on top of all that, Sakura was starting to feel the kind of chill she had long since associated with a morgue.

Still, she had to try, she couldn't give up. It was her own damn fault in the first place for thinking she could walk to the village. Why hadn't she just set up camp and waited like a normal person? She could be cozy in a tent with a cheerful, crackling fire right now.

But there was no point moaning about it. If her shishou had taught her anything, it was the importance of resolve. Sakura could still remember that lesson and she doubted she would ever forget it, even after she died. Tsunade had a way of etching things into people's skull.

"_Get up, try again!"_

"_I've been trying for three weeks, shishou. I just can't do it."_

"_Oh really?"_

"_Shishou, I'm sorry. I'm just tired and-OW!"_

"_I never want to hear the words "I can't" from you again, Sakura."_

"You didn't have to punch me!"

"_Statistics prove people learn faster that way. Now get back to work. And remember, there will always come a time in your life when you'll fuck up. It's something everyone has to go through. What matters is that you keep on going even after you're screwed, got it?"_

"_Are you drunk, shishou?"_

"_Don't test me, Sakura. I was going easy on you with that punch! And breaking apart that mountainside is only going to be harder with one of your arms permanently snapped off."_

Sakura still remembered that day with immense pride when the face of the Godaime on the Hokage monument was unveiled. Though an official contractor had been hired to clean up the overall structure (Tsunade had insisted she did not have such a big nose and the cowering craftsman had agreed, promising to fix the blemish immodestly), it was she, Haruno Sakura, who had made that side of the mountain look like her shishou's face. She with her bare hands and excellently manipulated chakra to form the cracks in the right places. And even though Tsunade never actually said it, Sakura knew her master was just as proud of her on that day as Sakura was of herself.

Sakura set her jaw. If she could carve the side of a bloody mountain, then there was no way she couldn't walk a few more miles in the frigid mist. After all, she had enough chakra to keep walking for hours. And enough energy to keep herself insulated for just as long.

Now if only she had a better sense of where she was heading towards…

?!-!?-?!-!?

Kakashi had been all set to be on the receiving end of the silent treatment, or even outright rudeness, from his fellow ninja for the first week or so of his stay. The fact that Kiri nin are not allowed to have their own place and live in dorms when on periods of active duty only meant that he would be living in enemy territory – no pun intended.

However, what with Asano on his side, things appeared to be far more relaxed now. True, he still only had a narrow cell-like room to himself with only a cot, a wardrobe and a wash basin furnishing it but so did everyone else. The common room, which Kakashi had learnt wasn't just messy on his account but always looked like a war zone, was usually crowded with shinobi who had pulled up the few functioning tables and chairs to play a game of cards. The Copy Nin idly wondered what these men would think of the jounin lounge back home, where actual coffee was available in actual coffee pots. Knowing this lot, the leaf nin would only come across as pansies.

When they'd entered the night before, Asano had indeed needed to cough up the money he owed a scary looking nin who had apparently been part of the Kiri ANBU once. However, after a friendly game of poker in which Kakashi had completely wiped the floor with the ex-hunter nin, not only had his new best friend, Asano, gotten his money back but Shida had grudgingly admitted that Kakashi was not as "girly" as he looked. Kakashi could only thank his lucky stars Shida had not seen him without the mask. He didn't think he could stand words like "pretty" and "cute" just as he was starting to make a name for himself.

The one thing that _did_ work at the dorms – and on time too – was the post. Every morning, as chunin or lower ranked ninja delivered letters, mission details and anything else to the relevant shinobi recipient and took a generic form of consent with a signature back. If the mission was too important, a ninja only got a summon to the Mizukage's office where he would be briefed.

Such a note was in Kakashi's envelope on his first morning as an official Kiri shinobi. Though Kakashi doubted he was being sent on an important mission this early and was almost sure the summon was only a formality to see how he was settling in, he still made his way to the Mizukage's building prepared.

And sure enough, the visit had "perfunctory" written all over it. The Mizukage ushered him in with a smile and (did he imagine that?) a wink, the young, nervous looking aide introduced as Isagi Shuu offered him tea (albeit in a manner reminiscent of someone with a kunai up their arse) and he was asked how he was "getting on". Once the formalities were cleared and he was assigned his duty for the day ("Just village patrol till you get used to things around here, Hatake-san.") , he left the office quickly, barely stopping to wish Raidou – another leaf nin who'd come to Kiri – good luck. The scarred shinobi nodded, resigned to his fate as the "new kid" in town.

Kakashi wondered where the other former leaf nin were assigned to. He'd seen too much in his years to fall for this act of diplomacy. The Mizukage could be sugar and honey herself but he knew for a fact that the administrative staff would do their damn best to keep the five leaf jounin as far away from each other as possible. Oh well, he never did like sweet things.

"HELP! DEAD GIRL! HELP!"

Kakashi's feet reacted before his brain – taking him to the source of the yells and shouts before his thoughts caught up with what was being said. _Great_, he thought sarcastically as he neared the throng of people gathered at the shore. His first official mission and he was _already_ dealing with corpses.

"Make way, coming through," he tried to make himself heard over all the shouts and cries of the bystanders and finally, giving up on civilian cooperation, just elbowed and kneed his way to the center of the ring where a girl lay facedown in the sand –a girl with a very familiar mop of bright pink hair.

_Oh fuck! _


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III – In Which Tsuki Helps**

"Hatake-san, she's coming around. You may leave now."

"I think I'll stay, Tsuki-chan."

"Really, there's no need. She just had to get warmed up. She doesn't even have a fever, Hatake-san. And of course, you have our word that we won't be examining her."

"Thank you, Tsuki-chan, but I need to speak to her as well."

The voices reached Sakura before her vision. One was of a girl who she didn't know and the other belonged to…

"Ka… kashi…" she slowly lifted her eyelids, trying to see if her eyes supported the sounds she heard.

"Sakura, I'm here." Suddenly, her small hand was taken up from her side and completely covered by his. "Are you hurt?"

"Th... thirsty…"

"Of course, wait a minute, ah, Arigatou, Tsuki-chan."

Sakura felt herself lifted gently, one of Kakashi's hands supporting her as his other held a glass of water to her lips. Sakura drank a little at first, knowing her throat probably wouldn't be able to take in too much. But when she felt the coolness of the liquid on her parched throat, she couldn't help sucking in more deeply. Soon, Kakashi was tipping the glass forwards so she could drink every remaining drop.

"Do you want more?" he asked but she was saved from answering by the young medic beside Sakura.

"She's probably dehydrated, Hatake-san. She'll need at least three more glasses before she can talk properly."

And true to word, three glasses of that cool refreshing water later, Sakura was feeling more like herself. Although, feeling like herself did have its shortcomings. Kakashi seemed to have deemed her strong enough to be able to sit up by herself and his arms went promptly by his side.

"Can you talk?" he asked. Sakura nodded in response.

"Tsuki-chan, would you please give us a minute?" he glanced at the dark haired girl, making sure his carefully worded request came across as anything but.

"Al-alright, Hatake-san." The young woman left the room with a slight bow of her head towards Kakashi and Sakura.

With the Mist medic out of the room, Kakashi turned the full intensity of his gaze on Sakura. The pink haired kunoichi tried to suppress a shudder. She knew that look... her former sensei was seriously pissed.

"So, let's start with how you got here. Seeing as the last boat to dock was the one carrying me and the rest of our men."

"Um..." Sakura bit her bottom lip, trying to find the best possible way to admit her foolishness and in the end, just decided to be honest. "I walked."

"Sakura, answer my question." He ordered, and as much as she tried to remind herself that he was no longer her teacher, she couldn't help but inwardly flinch at the tone in his voice.

"I swear, I walked to the outpost jetty, then when the boat didn't come I just… walked… on the water…" she faltered at the glare Kakashi sent her way. She swore, sometimes his normal eye could look more threatening than his sharingan.

"So you walked all night in that mist? And may I ask how you found your way?" his voice was scaring her now.

"Umm… well, we did some Kiri geography for the chunin exams…" Kakashi looked just about ready to murder her at the lame excuse so she spluttered out the truth as quickly as she could. "I detected residual chakra, okay?? From boats, aquatic life, whatever. I know I took a huge chance but it worked. I just went towards the place with the highest concentration of chakra until I saw light. The sun was just coming up and the mist cleared a little and I almost made it to shore but than I… kinda… "

"Fainted from exhaustion?" He challenged.

Sakura merely nodded her head in defeat. Of all the scenarios she could have imagined when she'd finally be reunited with Kakashi, this had certainly not been one of them.

"And why are you here, anyway? I know for a fact that a more senior medic was assigned to this mission. What happened to him?"

"If by that you mean I'm not good enough, let me assure you that I am." Sakura shot back, the hurt evident in her eyes.

"Sakura, you know that's not what I meant." Kakashi explained, softening his tone. Clearly his former student did not like her abilities doubted. "Now please... answer my question."

"Umm… nothing really. Tsunade-sama… I mean, I – requested she give me the mission. And Kumo-san was happy about it too. His girlfriend is expecting a baby and they didn't find out until last week so…" she trailed off, knowing full well she couldn't avoid the real question here.

"Sakura, I will ask again. Why did you come here?"

Sakura just stared at him, willing herself to talk. She wanted to say she came for _him_, she wanted to yell at him for leaving without saying goodbye, she wanted to shake him for being so damn stupid but most of all, she just wanted to hold him against her and never let him go. Unfortunately, her body wasn't under her command right then. So all she did was look at him miserably, trying to form words that would not come.

"Sakura," he raised his hands to her face and cupped it. "Please tell me…"

Before she knew what she was doing, the pink haired jounin had pulled him closer and was pressing her mouth against his masked lips, not caring that the cloth was separating her from his skin. She sucked at the outline of his lips hungrily and... was it her imagination or had one of his hands really moved to her hair?

All too soon, she could feel him pulling away from her and clung on all the more tightly. No, she couldn't let him go now. Not after she'd finally managed to say, well, express herself. If she let him go now, she'd lose him forever. And she didn't care how irrational that line of thought was.

"Sakura, honestly, I'm not going to run away." He must have caught on to her desperate gesture.

"You did the last time," the words out of her mouth must have been some sort of signal because right then, the tears started falling. The tears she'd just managed to hold behind her lashes now cascaded down her cheeks and onto him.

"Sakura, look at me…" he whispered softly.

No she couldn't, she _wouldn't,_ because the moment she did, she would see pity in his eyes. The kind of look that said "Sakura, you need to rest. You've had a rough time." just like he'd done after the jounin exams. She'd been hurt and bleeding badly and all she'd wanted was him by her side. She'd been holding on to him just like she was now. And she'd be damned if she let him go this time.

"Sakura… I won't go away… I promise…"

?!-!?-?!-!?

"Permission to enter, Mizukage-sama!"

"Now now, Shuu-kun, what have I told you about being too formal? It gives you frown lines, you know?" The blue-clad woman pouted as though she couldn't imagine anything more terrible than frown lines.

"My apologies, Mei-sama, but someone's here to see you." Shuu offered, softening his tone but making his words no less formal. Yes, he was picking up fast on how the Mizukage liked things run.

"Hmm… and who might that be?" Questioned the red head with an arched eyebrow.

"Tsuki Maia, a medic stationed at the southern end of the Inland, M'lady. Where Hatake Kakashi from Konoha is stationed as well, and where Haruno Sakura, the new medic, washed up on shore this morning."

"Ah! Tsuki-chan, why didn't you let her in earlier? And these Leaf nin sure do have interesting ways of showing up, no?"

Shuu bowed politely and exited the office, gesturing the medic to enter on his way out.

The medic entered, trembling to her very toes and attempting to hide her face behind her raven hair.

"Come in, Tsuki-chan. Why don't you take a seat now, dear?"

"M-m-mizukage-sama," the girl almost doubled up in her attempts to bow as deeply as she could to the leader of the village Hidden in the Mist.

"Now, now, Tsuki-chan. I don't like such formalities. They're a real bore, wouldn't you agree? Just ask Shuu-kun."

Instead of an answer, all Mei received from her audience was stunned silence. It was alright for now. The girl would learn soon enough, just as that intern had.

"So, why did you want to see me again? Is it about Haruno-chan, the Konoha medic who was found on shore this morning?"

"H-hai, Mizukage-sama."

"I hope she's feeling better. All night out on the waters couldn't have done her any good," Mei pondered, a finger stroking her chin. "Tell me, dear, does she have a fever?"

"N-no My Lady, she doesn't. She's quite… strong." Tsuki finished, trying to be helpful in any way she could.

"Hmm… I wonder if you could clear something up for me, Tsuki-chan. Would you have any idea how she got to the island?"

"Yes, Lady Mizukage! I mean, she… walked..." It was clear from the way she said it that the slight medic was having trouble believing her own words.

"And may I ask where you received such information?" The red head questioned "Tsuki-chan." She added hastily.

"Umm… " The girl was starting to tremble and Mei, to lose her patience.

"Well girl, how in Kami's name could you know something only the ANBU do?" She snapped when it was apparent no flies were being caught with honey.

"I-I heard her, them… Haruno-chan and Hatake-san. I think they're… close…" What little could be seen of the medic's face was colored red. For a moment, Mei wondered what _exactly_ had happened in the small clinic but decided it wasn't important right now. What was important was the sudden change in Konoha's medic and a girl who was "close" to Hatake Kakashi showing up on the shore like a drowned sea shell. What could be so important that a ninja would act so foolishly as to walk on water all night long and risk certain death just to see her former sensei?

Add to that the fact that Mei's intel division had pulled out everything they could find on Haruno Sakura – there had been quite a few things worth mentioning about the kunoichi – and it had turned out that Konoha's new medic was quite a prolific personality, almost as much as Konoha's Copy Ninja himself. She not only excelled at medical ninjutsu but combat as well and had once been on the same team as the infamous Uchiha Sasuke. The fact that Haruno was also known far and wide as Tsunade's own protégé did not go amiss on Mei either. So the real question was, what was that scheming Hokage playing at?

"M-m-mizukage-sama…" Tsuki's cautious tone interrupted Mei's train of thought, reminding her that the girl was still present.

"Ah, my apologies, Tsuki-chan. I got lost in thought. But thank you so much for coming over and letting me know all this."

"It-it was my duty." The brunette stuttered, attempting a bow from her seated position and looking almost comical in the process.

"Why Tsuki-chan, you really are too kind. I wonder… could you do me another, _tiny_ little favor?" asked Mei, making her eyes as round and big as she could.

"Of course… My Lady."

"Well, as you know, Haruno-chan is new. She'll probably have some trouble settling in and making new friends. Would you kindly take her under your wing? Help her get around, make sure she has a… _friend_?"

"Of course, Mizukage-sama. You didn't even have to ask. I was going to…" The girl stopped as she realized she was speaking in front of the Mizukage herself and lowered her head, the visible part of her face stained pink.

"Just what I'd expect from a kind hearted one like you. But Tsuki-chan, I think it might hurt Haruno-chan's feelings if she found out that it was _I _who asked you to be her friend. So what do you say we keep this little conversation just between us?" Mei took care to inject her voice with a mixture of sympathy as well as good intention, all the while making it obvious that her request was really an order that had to be obeyed.

"Yes, Lady Mizukage," the pale girl nodded, not entirely sure what she was agreeing to.

"Well then, we're all set. I'm sure you have patients to get back to, Tsuki-chan. I apologize for taking so much of your time. You're one of our best medics, after all."

The girl hastily got to her feet, made a deep bow to the floor and all but ran out the door in her enthusiasm to obey her Mizukage's orders. Mei barely caught an "Arigatou Gozaimasu, Terumi-sama!" before the girl was gone – no doubt back to her patients, and to Haruno Sakura.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV – In Which Asano Proposes An Idea**

The following six weeks passed in a happy blur for Sakura. Her work as a medic was not as bad as she'd feared, if anyone was mean to her at the beginning, they either respected her for her talents now or had seen what she could do with her bare hands and kept their trap shut and Tsuki Maia, the Kiri medic Sakura had met on her first day on the island, was now a good friend.

If Sakura thought about it, she would have been amazed at how well her life was going. Her work was as good as she could've hoped for and even though there weren't many friendly faces, there weren't many unfriendly ones either. Most of the people around her took a neutral stance to an outsider in their midst. And though she was never invited to private parties, included in personal or group conversations and not encouraged to participate in group activities outside of the work place, she was treated with politeness and her requests were never denied for the sole reason of spite. Indeed, some of her new colleagues even went out of their way to help her in her work.

Tsuki was the only one who was the exception to the norm. She hung around Sakura, all day, every day. She was the one who first showed Sakura the ropes, who familiarized her with Mist's geography and explained how the four clinics worked in place of an actual big hospital. It was the small, dark haired medic who tried to clarify Kiri's different divisions and where they were stationed as well as different protocols for ninja from different jurisdictions

It had happened almost three weeks after Sakura's arrival. A team of jounin and chunin had returned from a mission badly hurt. And while most of them had been rushed to the clinic and to the emergency ward, a badly injured boy of about fifteen had been left in the waiting room even though it was painfully obvious he needed immediate attention.

"Tsuki-san, that boy outside, he needs help!" Sakura had said, already gazing around at the current patients to see which one was in a condition to vacate a bed.

"We've already informed the Eastern Clinic. Someone should be around to pick him up in ten minutes, Haruno-chan," Tsuki had replied before moving to the next patient, hands already glowing green with chakra.

"But Tsuki, I don't think he can wait that long. I mean, he's bleeding. The least we can do it get him some gauze and wrap up his wounds, or staunch the bleeding somehow."

"Haruno-san, we don't have enough beds and that boy does not fall under our area. Now could you please give me a hand in stabilizing Amagai-san's heartbeat, please?" Tsuki had never sounded as firm as she did then. It was the first and last time Sakura had ever seen her timid friend close to taking charge under any situation.

Later that night, after all the patients had been attended to and the two medics were cleaning up their stations, Tsuki had apologized profusely for her behavior earlier and explained to Sakura why it was that they couldn't treat patients from other sides of the island.

"You see Haruno-chan, when someone dies… everyone gets very… upset. And well, in all the confusion and hurt, people sometimes tend to blame each other. So the last Mizukage decreed that each clinic only be in charge of people from it's own side of the island, so no one would have anyone to blame if a ninja dies – as is inevitable here..."

It didn't take a genius to see how much the decree hurt Tsuki personally. The brunette was a natural healer with a kind heart to match. It wasn't exactly a surprise to see her upset at not being able to heal someone bleeding in the waiting room.

"But that was the last Mizukage's order. What about the one now? Can't she do anything?" Sakura tried, hating herself for prying but determined to find the cause of the problem, or at least try to better it somehow.

"Mei-sama, well, I don't know for sure but people say the previous Mizukage was her shishou… And she believes in a lot of policies he did." Tsuki all but whispered and Sakura couldn't help but feel that she was not supposed to be privy to such information. "But Mizukage-sama has made many changes too," her friend and colleague hurried to defend the red head Sakura had only met in person once. "She's done loads of good things for the Island, everyone's lives are so much better now. And what with Konoha helping us along the way, things are only going to get better, right?"

Sakura could have said a number of things in response to her friend's tentatively asked question. After all, she had seen quite enough while growing up to know things hardly ever worked out the way you wanted them to, and even when they did, some cruel twist of fate always appeared to throw your perfectly calculated equation out of balance.

But perhaps she didn't want to be responsible for extinguishing that ray of hope in Tsuki's eyes or because she was so happy herself these days. Whatever the cause, instead of giving the young medic a realistic answer, she just flashed a bright smile and continued packing her stuff away for the night, eager to meet her secret lover. The day's events had shaken up Sakura even if not very badly and she wanted to feel the comfort of his arms as she drifted off to sleep – the only sure way to keep nightmares at bay, as she'd recently learned.

Yes, Sakura's life in Mist had settled down for quite a number of reasons. But what made her the happiest was being with the man she loved. And he loved her too. Sakura still couldn't believe her luck. In fact, every time she heard the words, she had to pinch herself mentally just to make sure she wasn't dreaming or trapped in an extremely powerful genjutsu. And even if she was, Sakura never wanted to be released from this euphoric place. A place where, after finishing up her duties for the day, Kakashi came to her, his silver hair glinting in the moonlight. Whoever said Kiri's nights were cold had clearly not spent them with Kakashi pressed so close to them. And for that she was immensely glad. He was hers and hers alone.

?!-!?-?!-!?

Kakashi had been given exactly three days of Island patrol duty before he was deemed fit to take on heavier missions. After all, they must want to put their temporary ninja to good use. And if said temporary ninja died or got hurt, well, it wasn't a big loss.

On his fourth official day of active duty, Kakashi received his second summon to the Mizukage's office along with three other seasoned shinobi. Their mission was as simple and clear as it was cruel and brutal. Sneak into a Mafia Lord's stronghold, use any means to assassinate him, do whatever you see fit with the wife and daughter. Shida, who was to accompany Kakashi on the mission, jokingly asked how old the daughter was and was given a crisp "We believe her to be around twelve" reply. The Mizukage's own eyebrow wiggling and mock reprimands of "Now now, Shida-san… behave yourself, please" had only served to sicken Kakashi further.

In the end, the mission had been a success but the family had somehow managed to escape. No one on his platoon knew how and Kakashi was certainly not going to tell them.

Most of the mission afterwards followed a similar pattern. It was usually assassination or theft. Why, once, Kakashi and five other Kiri nin had even been hired by a Drug Lord to oversee the safety of his shipment. Once that mission was successfully done, it permanently sank into Kakashi that the Mizukage literally gave her ninja out to the highest bidder. And while he was no stranger to the world of shinobi, it still somehow left him reeling to see no pretenses being made about the nature of their work like they were back home in Konoha.

During the first month and a half, the only other leaf nin Kakashi saw was Sakura. Raidou and the others had been stationed on different parts of the island and their mission times had been chosen carefully to coincide with his own free time –whenever he had some, that is.

Kakashi had been on exactly nineteen missions in his first six weeks and each one had been a success, earning him a rather austere reputation among friends and foes alike. Indeed, whenever the men decided to go out for drinks, Asano had made it a custom to have one arm slung casually around Kakashi's shoulder to show to everyone how close he was to Kakashi of the Sharingan.

His sharingan was of another issue entirely. During the first two weeks of his stay, the men at the dorms had constantly bugged him to show it to them ("Stop being a pussy, we just wanna look") but to no avail. However, some of them had their wish granted on the very next mission when the four men cell Kakashi was leading ran into a vicious kunoichi who once belonged to Sand and who had perfected a particularly deadly jutsu involving sand and water. Kakashi had been forced to fight with everything he had, using his Sharingan to keep up with her moves and finding a hole in her defenses had taken a huge toll on his health and he had ended up in the clinic for two days afterwards. However, that didn't seem to mar his growing reputation any but only made him all the more threatening in the eyes of Mist nin across the island.

Plus, the two days spent in "intensive care" with Sakura were enough to make any shinobi feel refreshed and good as new. Any doubts Kakashi ever had about his pink haired lover were all done away with. Their age difference didn't seem to matter to her, his own coldness and maturity only seemed to turn her on more and – if he was honest with himself – the tiny, naked body curled up against him as she slept peacefully was the best sensation the older jounin had ever felt. He never got tired of watching her. Her face, her eyes, her nose, her lips, her neck, her breasts, her stomach… it gave him a hard on just thinking about her exposed flesh. And the fact that she was so willing, so completely trusting, made Kakashi feel undeserving and all the more protective of her.

Though he had gone very far with Sakura, there was one boundary he was very strict about maintaining. Just before they'd made love for the very first time, Sakura had tried to take of his mask and Kakashi had stopped her abruptly.

"_Sakura, can I ask you for something?"_

"_Anything."_

"_Please don't ever try to remove my mask. I know it may sound odd now but you'll have to trust me."_

"_But… I want to see you face…I want to… do a lot of things to it…" _

"_You will see it, but at the right time. As far the things you'd like to do… tell me, Miss Haruno. Or better yet, show me."_

Sakura had been puzzled but in the end, reassured him that it didn't matter. On his part, Kakashi simply liked the thought of at least one boundary between them. They had already exposed so much of themselves to each other that keeping his face hidden was just a small precaution, an extra treat he would give her on a particularly special day. But for that day to come, he had to make a few arrangements. Like buying a ring, for instance.

?!-!?-?!-!?

"Hey Haruno, you Hatake's girl, right?" The thick muscled ninja who was at the clinic for his monthly physical asked as casually as he was inquiring about the weather. Sakura – who was in the middle of going through his chart – froze.

Though she and Kakashi had never actually spoken about it, there had been a mutual understanding between the two of them about their budding relationship. It was nobody's business but their own, it was simple as that. Luckily, Sakura knew how to deal with such a tactless question what with having to serve as the Hokage's assistant for more than five years now.

"Let's get your temperature first, Asano-san, say '_ah_'…" Sometimes the best way to deal with such delicate matters was to shut the mouth asking the questions, as Tsunade often said.

However, Asano seemed to be determined for all he did was push aside the proffered thermometer and said "Well, you are, ain't you?"

"I don't think you should be asking such questions, Asano-san. I'm certainly not obliged to answer," the medic responded coolly. "And neither is Hatake-san, so don't bother him with such things either," she added for good measure.

"Relax Haruno, I ain't telling no one. Was just wonderin' if I could do you two a favor, is all." Asano clarified, winking playfully at Sakura. It was surprising how such a small action made the otherwise rough man look almost friendly.

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean, Asano-san."

"It's easy. See, I got friends in the higher up. I know they're gonna be sendin' you and me on a mission tomorrow. Now you ain't suppose to find out til' then, so appreciate your bein' discreet here." The last sentence came out in a stage whisper.

"Us? On a mission? Why?" asked Sakura, perplexed.

"They need one shinobi and a medic, is one of them infiltration missions and Tsuki ain't free. So they're gonna ask you." The man explained with an air of utmost importance. "But you see, I ain't going because I got business to attend to right here. And I know for fact them admin's being a real bitch trying to keep you Leaf people away from each other," he continued.

Sakura remained silent, only nodding her head slightly to show she was listening.

"Listen, I know summat's going on with you and Hatake and I don't grudge 'em that. We all need some reminder of bein' human now and then. So what I intend to do – just because I'm a nice guy – is I let Hatake take my place tomorrow. You both leave before those admin bitches find out and knowing Hatake, mission'll be over and Mizukage paid before you know it. So no reason to complain and you to get yourself a three day island vacation to… catch up," Asano finished with a flourish. Clearly he fancied himself as the new Santa Claus.

"And why tell me all this now instead of just surprising us tomorrow with the news?" questioned Sakura with raised eyebrows

"Ah, well, thought of that… but I kinda need a note from you medics to say I can't go tomorrow. So, whadaya say, Haruno?" he asked hopefully.

"Ah."

"Ah?"

Seizing the opportunity, Sakura stuck the thermometer in the is the nin's mouth, halting all further conversation.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter V – In Which Sakura Makes A Mistake**

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE GONE?!" the Mizukage hollered and Isagi Shuu swore he almost felt the very walls of the building shake.

"T-t-there was a l-l-ast minute c-c-cancelat-tion, Mizuk-kage-sama," Shuu stuttered helplessly. He had never seen the Hidden Mist leader so angry and the poor boy was all but peeing his pants.

"I DON'T CARE! WHO THE FUCK LET THEM GO OFF TOGETHER?" the red headed woman raged at the cowering intern.

"A-amagai-senpai, signed the..." Too late, the young Mist chunin realized he was putting his superior in danger and trailed off. But the Mizukage had of course noticed the slip.

"Get that bastard Amagai in here RIGHT NOW!" she screeched and Shuu fled the office, trying his best not to cry at what he'd done.

?!-!?-?!-!?

"Okay, so the plan is, we split up. You search the left side of the island and I'll search the right. I don't think there's anyone here but be careful. If you find something or are in danger, use the flare but only at minimum brightness. I'll be able to see it and come over to help out. Clear?" Kakashi whispered from behind some coral they were currently taking shelter behind to "strategize".

"And what if you get in trouble?" Sakura whispered back, a hint of teasing in her voice.

"Well then, I'll send out the flare and _you_ can come rescue _me_, Madame Kunoichi." Kakashi deadpanned.

"Do we really have to do this, Kakashi? We both know there's no one on the island. We can search for any clues left behind together," Sakura pouted. "Besides, it's not like we're pressed for time seeing as we can't possibly start back for Kiri anytime before tomorrow," she added reasonably.

"Well, I can't work with you around," Kakashi shot back and even though he was masked, the sneer in his voice was unmistakable.

"Do you mean to say I'm incompetent?" Sakura asked, fluttering her eyelashes.

"No, just that you distract me – a lot," the Copy Nin answered.

"Alright fine, but one quick round and then we're setting up camp."

"As you wish, my Lady," Kakashi chuckled and both Konoha turned Kiri nin zoomed off in opposite directions.

?!-!?-?!-!?

"Mizukage-sama, A-amagai-senpai's here," squeaked Shuu only to hear a waspish "Send him in then…" from Mei's direction.

Truth be told, Mei did not consider herself to be a very strict leader. In fact, she detested unnecessary unpleasantness. But if her opponents were going to underestimate her for it, than they had another thing coming altogether.

There were days when Mei really enjoyed her job. Being in control of the entire village suited her and she would do her best for the people of the island. At least she was a hell lot better Mizukage than Madara-shishou used to be. Yes, on such days, Mei felt proud of the work she'd done to rebuild the island and reform its people into something more humanoid than the Mist shinobi of the past.

Then there were days like this one, on which Mei saw concrete proof that every single one of her employees were complete and utter morons.

"Good evening, Mei-sama!" Amagai's voice came from the door "Permission to enter!"

"You may enter," snapped the Mizukage but didn't offer him a seat. She just wasn't in the mood to play nice today. "You were the one who signed the mission order stating that Hatake and Haruno were to be assigned to Little Seal Island?"

"Hai!" affirmed the old shinobi

"And were you aware that we highly discourage such actions? Or was it not made clear before the arrival of the Leaf nin that none of them were to be assigned missions together?" Mei asked, bitingly sarcastic.

"I signed the documents without paying careful attention, Mei-sama. Asano-san was supposed to go with Haruno-san to Little Seal but something turned up in his monthly physical just yesterday and he was held back for further examination." Explained the old jounin, ruffling through some papers in his file. "Here, the note from his medic is right here," he laid the letter on the desk from where it was instantly snatched up by the Mizukage.

"Amagai, are you blind, man?" asked Mei, her voice now deathly calm.

Amagai merely stayed silent.

"Please read that note again and tell me who signed it," ordered Mei, her voice getting softer and deadlier. The wizened Kiri nin cautiously picked up the note and skimmed the bottom. The two words at the bottom of the form made him gasp.

"Haruno Sakura, Mei-sama."

?!-!?-?!-!?

Between the two of them, Kakashi and Sakura had searched the island thoroughly but other than traces of campfires, a few used condoms that had been half-heartedly dug beneath a few inches of sand and some fruit peelings, nothing else had been found. Sure, they had enough evidence to prove that the group they were after had camped here for a while but right now, nothing other than the wildlife and themselves occupied Little Seal Island.

Having decided that nothing more could be done, Kakashi had finally agreed to setting up camp and made Sakura in charge of erecting tents while he gathered firewood. Sakura had asked why not leave it up to her in getting the firewood instead seeing as she was clearly better at grunt work but Kakashi had just ruffled her hair before setting off to the direction of the island's meager collection of trees.

In truth, Kakashi knew perfectly well what Sakura was capable of. She would have had no trouble snapping off a few branches and bringing them back to the camp site. But he supposed he was old fashioned that way. He didn't want his Sakura to resort to grunt work as long as he was around. And while being a shinobi didn't give either of them the luxury to choose their tasks, Kakashi was determined to have his way whenever he could.

_Just like now_, thought Kakashi as the fire crackled cheerfully a few feet away. The mist was not as thick tonight as it usually was around the area and if he squinted, he could almost see the outline of stars - a sight he had not been blessed with for nearly two months.

"What are you looking at?" asked Sakura and he gazed down to the young girl snuggled up under his arm. Wearing nothing but her shorts and a bikini top Kami only knew where she obtained from, she looked even more enchanting than usual in the red glow of the fire.

"The stars," he replied lazily, tracing one o his fingers on the bare planes of her back and feeling her shiver pleasantly. It still amazed him how she reacted to each and every touch of his. None of his antics, his movements or techniques ever grew old on her and each time they made love, she seemed just as happy and satisfied as if it were the first time. Kakashi had never told her this but his favorite sound in the world was now his own name, uttered through her own lips as she came, again and again, under his ministrations.

"Well, did you find any?" she asked with a quirk of her lips, making Kakashi want to taste every inch of that soft, pink skin.

"Not up there," he said huskily, gazing deep into her sparkling eyes and then closing the distance between their lips.

?!-!?-?!-!?

Kakashi slept peacefully.

Come to think of it, Sakura had never really seen the silver haired jounin this way. Usually after their love making, it was Sakura who went to sleep in his arms. But today was anything but usual. And for that, Sakura was glad.

This was a side of Kakashi she had never seen before, the one that completely lets down his guard and just slept. Until now, he had always tried to make her feel good, always doing his best to pleasure her during and before intercourse. Of course, it had only made her want to return the favor but the sentiment was still there

Sakura wished she could see his face. It must look like an angel's. She didn't understand why Kakashi insisted the mask remain between them or why she always had to close her eyes when he was kissing her or licking her nether lips. And at first, not seeing his face had been enough. It was already such a huge factor to have him that any condition that came along with it seemed inconsequential.

But now, with him holding her close as he slept and his face just above her head, Sakura felt an irresistible need to remove that plain black cloth and see the face of the man she loved more than anyone else in the world.

Without realizing it, her fingers inched slowly up to his face and to the edge of the black piece of cotton that was the only barrier between the two lovers. Briefly, Sakura wondered if it was wise to go against Kakashi's wishes but was quickly silenced by Inner Sakura who was really curious as to what lay behind the mask.

Of course, Sakura didn't give a damn if he had fish lips or any other blemish she used to think up as a genin, along with Naruto and Sasuke. She merely wanted to se his face for the sake of seeing it, to love him more if it was possible.

Her fingers crept up to the edge of the mask and tentatively, she stuck her pinkie beneath it only feel stubble. The mere sensation of the hair excited her and she slipped in another finger to feel more of the skin that lay underneath the black cloth.

Right then, Kakashi made a small, contented noise, shocking Sakura into stillness. Who would have known the infamous Copy Ninja slept like this when he was warm and comfortable? Sakura hoped her presence had something to do with how peacefully he was sleeping. His contentment only made her want to see his face more.

Sakura slowly moved her fingers again. This time, gripping the edge of the mask firmly and deciding to take it off in one good tug. She couldn't wait any longer to see the face of the man she had loved for as long as she could remember.

Sucking in a breath, she quickly tugged off the plain black cloth that was as much a part of her former sensei as his tardiness, silver hair and his lazy attitude.

The first thing that struck Sakura upon her lover's face being revealed was how exquisitely beautiful he was. His face had such refined features; they could have been carved out of marble itself. There were flaws in it but even flaws – such as a slightly crooked nose and a thin pink scar along the jaw – only seemed to compliment his face. And now, with his eyes closed and silver lashes resting on his cheeks, a slight hint of a smile on his perfect face, Kakashi really did look like an angel. With a start, Sakura realized there were tears in her eyes.

This was stupid, why was she crying? She should be happy she was in love with the most perfect man in the entire universe. Sure, he was lazy, arrogant, sometimes over protective and other times just a pain. But he was hers. He was exactly what she needed in her life.

"Sakura, what's wrong? Are you ok?" Oh great, her pathetic sniveling had woken Kakashi up.

"I'm f-fine," she blubbered and reached up to caress his exposed face.

However, something changed when Kakashi felt her fingertips touching his bare flesh. His eye, which had been filled with tenderness and concern only seconds ago, now frosted over into a cold hard grey chunk of ice and Sakura couldn't help the feeling of dread spreading through her insides...

?!-!?-?!-!?

Tsuki Maia played with the hem of her long shirt anxiously. From what she'd heard, everyone in the Mizukage's office was really upset. The Hokage herself had called up Amagai-san, Asano-san and Tsuki herself and yelled for a whole hour at everyone for letting Haruno-chan and Hatake-san leave for a mission together. Tsuki didn't know why Mei-sama was so angry. After all, Haruno-chan was a decent person and the few times the Kiri medic had met Hatake-san, he had seemed nice enough.

Whatever the reason, Mei-sama had not wanted them to interact. And now both temporary Kiri nin were in trouble. Even though what they'd done wasn't technically wrong, there were severe repercussions awaiting both Haruno-chan and Hatake-san as soon as their boat docked. Tsuki knew that Hatake-san was being reassigned to another part of the island and the only times he'd be able to see Haruno-chan was during his monthly physical… or if he got hurt on a mission.

As for Haruno-chan, Tsuki was ordered to move her into the clinic permanently. Tsuki herself was subjected to the same rule and was ordered to watch Haruno-chan day and night instead of returning to the dorms after her shift. Oh well, it could have been worse, Tsuki could have been relieved of active duty altogether. And then she would have nothing to do but return home to Koi who would get terribly angry at the lack of money. His own business ferrying people to and from the island didn't earn nearly as much as wages were concerned and he was always encouraging her to work harder. On her part, Tsuki enjoyed working at the clinic where she could help injured ninja.

Still, though she couldn't do anything about the sentence awaiting Haruno-chan and Hatake-san, she could at least give them a heads up. That's why she was out here in the early morning mist, freezing cold and waiting for the small boat carrying the two leaf nin home.

Tsuki tried not to think about what she was doing. It wasn't like she was going against the Mizukage's orders by greeting Haruno-chan and Hatake-san before anyone else. Then why did she feel like she was indeed betraying her Village?

The soft sound of oars swishing through water made Tsuki look up. Oh, thank Kami, they were back. And just before dawn too. They must have been done earlier than expected if they didn't even wait for light. Tsuki had been prepared to wait a few hours and was glad they had arrived early. The lesser people saw them come in, the better. Despite everything going on, Tsuki couldn't help but smile in relief as she watched the two jounin step out of the boat and drag it towards the beach.

But something was wrong. Haruno-chan wasn't smiling and her face and eyes weren't as relaxed as they usually were around Hatake-san. Not to mention the two Leaf nin weren't talking. In fact, they seemed to be avoiding looking at each other, period. Chiding herself for her overactive imagination, Tsuki jogged over to help them with the boat and to tell them what had happened after their departure.

The two jounin – though surprised to see Tsuki awaiting them – listened to all she had to say and once she was done, an eerie silence took hold of all three ninja. Finally it was Hatake-san who spoke first.

"Just as well, I was going to ask for a transfer anyway." And with that, he was gone, leaving Haruno-chan to burst into tears in his wake. Yes, Tsuki's first instincts had been right, something was indeed very, very wrong.

?!-!?-?!-!?

Sakura had tried to hold back until she reached her tiny room at the dormitory, she really had. But hearing Kakashi's voice, his cold tone had made the dam burst inside her and she now probably owed Tsuki a new shirt. Not that the medic would ever say something like that.

When Kakashi had walked away, Sakura had clung on to Tsuki and cried like she used to when she was a child. Tsuki's concerned face had reminded her too much of Hinata's, of Naruto's from when they were younger, and a feeling of homesickness had settled in her chest.

It was surprising really how Sakura only now realized how very far away from Konoha she was, how isolated she was from all her friends. What she wouldn't give right now to have Ino walk up to her and make fun of her overly large forehead, or for Chouji to walk up to her fridge and complain about the lack of meat in it. She would even be happy to see Neji and his I'm-too-cool-for-you attitude right now. And if she could just get a hug from Izumo or Kotetsu and assurance that things will be okay, Sakura would be in heaven.

But none of her friends were here now. Kakashi had been the only one who had kept her anchored to home, anchored to himself. And without him, she was as lost as she had been the night she'd decided to walk all the way to mist. With the exception that she now neither had the will nor the power to keep on going. Because her sole reason for coming to Mist was now turning his back on her.

Tsuki had let Sakura cry until she couldn't cry anymore. Than, offering her a water canteen, told her to drink up and clean up because Tsuki was under orders to bring Sakura to the Mizukage as soon as the pink haired medic checked in for the day.

Sakura did as she was told, not caring whatever decision was made regarding her fate by the higher ups.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter VI – In Which Moegi Makes A Friend**

Shuu edged nervously into the Mizukage's office, hoping against hope that the red head was asleep. After all, she hadn't slept last night and if Shuu's own experience was anything to go by, Lady Mizukage should be tired enough to be snoring on her desk.

"What is it, Shuu?" _Damn_! He should have known better than to wish for the impossible. Not only was the Mizukage not showing any signs of exhaustion but her energy and sheer irritability levels seems to have gone up a notch compared to the night before.

"It's… Haruno Sakura, ma'am. She's here," said the intern.

"Well, what are you waiting for then? Send her in!"

"Yes, Mei-sama, right away," the chunin blurted and all but ran out of the room, gesturing for the waiting pink haired medic to enter.

"Good Morning, Mizukage-sama," the jounin greeted in a flat voice, making Mei tap her fingernails irritably on the desk in front of her.

"Stand up straight, girl. Weren't you ever taught to respect your superiors?" the Mizukage snapped and despite everything that was going on her head, Sakura flinched at the comment.

"My apologies," she murmured, correcting her posture and wondering just how awful she looked.

"What happened to you, Haruno? You look worse than something the cat dragged in." remarked Mei casually, making Sakura flinch again.

"I just returned from a mission, Mizukage-sama," replied Sakura, keeping her head bowed.

"Yes, and from the ANBU report I received twenty minutes after your arrival, you and Hatake found Little Seal completely empty and only brought back the remains of its former campers? Or perhaps there was a bear attack and my men failed to include it in their mission summary?" Mei suggested tauntingly.

"I apologize. I'll go clean up right after my meeting with Mei-sama is over," said Sakura.

"See that you do," Mei ordered. "And by the way, Haruno, I had no idea you were so good on the field too. I'll be sure to assign you more… challenging missions from now on." She added, her voice adopting the soft, deadly tone that made the office staff cower in their boots.

"Arigatou gozaimasu, Mei-sama." Sakura bowed and was promptly dismissed.

?!-!?-?!-!?

"So… how was it, Haruno-chan...?" Tsuki questioned tentatively upon the Konoha turned Kiri jounin's return. "Was Mei-sama very angry?"

"No, it was fine. She just said she'd give me a few more missions from now on," said Sakura, plastering a fake smile on her face. There was no point in worrying Tsuki, she'd already caused the dark haired medic enough stress as it was.

"Oh…" whispered Tsuki before reaching for Sakura's hand. "I'm glad you didn't get in trouble, Haruno-chan."

The sheer sincerity of the statement touched Sakura and she decided then and there that she would be strong – if not for herself, then for Tsuki.

That was it; Sakura was done crying and weeping. She was going to be strong now. She was going to take whatever that bitch of a Mizukage threw her way and by Kami she was going to get Kakashi back.

"Arigatou, Tsuki-chan," said Sakura with a smile that felt a lot more real than her last. "For everything."

?!-!?-?!-!?

The very next morning, a young genin arrived at the clinic with a note for Sakura.

"G-good m-morning, Miss Haruno," the girl squeaked before holding the rolled up piece of paper like a shield.

Trying to put the young girl at ease, Sakura smiled and asked her if she'd like to come in, only to receive a bow and a terrified "I have –o-other du-duties, Miss Haruno, ma'am."

"Alright, would you at least tell me your name then?" Sakura asked, wondering what could have made the girl so afraid. Were there rumors going around the village about her or something?

"Mo-Moegi, ma'am," the girl replied, now something akin to curiosity in her wake.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Moegi-chan. I know another girl in Konoha about your age with the same name."

"Thank you," the fair haired genin bowed her head, a slight pink tint on her cheeks.

"Moegi-chan, could you wait here a minute, please?" asked Sakura, suddenly struck by an idea.

"Uh… okay… I mean, yes, Miss Haruno!" the girl caught herself and Sakura gave another smile. This time, she could see it eased the girl up a lot more.

Quickly going to the back where a tiny store room doubled as her luggage compartment, Sakura felt around in her trunk until she found what she was looking for: Konoha's famous rock candy. She had stowed a few without thought as she'd randomly packed for the trip and had yet to eat it. She had planned to give it to Kakashi but…

And Kakashi didn't like sweet things anyway.

Holding the candy in its brightly covered package, Sakura exited the store room to find the young genin looking curiously around the shelves.

"You're interested in medicine?" asked Sakura and the girl jumped as though stung. Slowly, red colored her cheeks at being caught looking.

"N-no… I mean, yes…"

"Well, it can't be both now, can it?" asked Sakura, moving over to Moegi and patting her on the shoulder.

"I…I'm going to be a medic someday…" the girl trailed off.

"Oh, that sounds nice," the pink haired jounin commented, handing over the candy she had retrieved from her trunk.

For a moment, Moegi looked like she didn't know what to make of it. A surprised expression fought its way across her small features and finally, she smiled in thanks.

"I guess…" she replied to Sakura's question.

"Don't you want to be a medic, Moegi-chan?"

"I do, Haruno-san. But more than anything else, I want to be a kunoichi - a _real_ ninja who gets to go on _real_ missions," the girl blurted out.

"Well, I don't see why you can't be both," said Sakura patiently.

The girl's mouth turned down slightly. "Everyone knows girls can't be real ninja. They just have to be medics."

While Tsuki had done a good enough job of explaining how things worked in Kiri, this bit of information was new to Sakura. She'd always assumed that all the medic nin were female because they'd chosen that career path. But now that she thought about it, all the ninja who were ever in the clinic for treatment or check ups were men. And this would also explain why no female jounin from Konoha had been assigned to this program.

"Well, let me tell you something, Moegi-chan. Girls _can_ be real ninja, even better than men sometimes. You should know that, after all, your Mizukage's a girl too. "

The child nodded, not entirely convinced.

"And so am I. Do you know that I go on missions and everything in Konoha? I've done hundreds of missions up till now and I have no plans of quitting." Sakura watched as the girl's expression turned from puzzled to hopeful to one of absolute reverence at the jounin's statement.

"Really?"

"Yes, really," the medic confirmed. "In fact, your Mizukage told me yesterday that she was going to give me more missions," she added.

"Oh wow," exclaimed Moegi, all her previous reservations about the outsider vanished.

"That note you just gave me, it's probably from Mei-sama's office, isn't it?" asked Sakura, making the younger girl jump.

"Oh, I totally forgot! My apologies, Haruno-san, I have to go now," and with a hurried bow, the blonde genin rushed out of the clinic.

?!-!?-?!-!?

Kakashi's first mission as part of the eastern unit nin of Mist was overseeing a group of genin still in the early stages of mastering chakra control. Unlike Konoha, Kiri genin were apparently not divided into groups after passing an exam but continued learning whatever they could in and outside the poor excuse for a school until they were handpicked by an already existing squad. If a kid was lucky, he or she would be noticed by an official ninja and an official form requesting the genin on their team would be submitted. If not, the genin would just have to work hard and carry out D ranked missions around the island until he or she had enough in her belt to take the chunin exams and hopefully either pass or at the very least, get noticed by someone.

Kakashi watched the group try their best to concentrate their chakra to their feet, trying to walk vertically on the brick wall around the school building's compound. Their usual instructor as sick and Kakashi was supposed to be in charge. He had no qualms about why he had been given such a dull mission – it was very likely the Mizukage's way of punishing him without actually punishing him. Little did she know that that Konoha's infamous Copy Ninja was known throughout his village for something other than just his sharingan – his utter laziness. .

As it was, Kakashi was now perched on a branch, barely keeping an eye on the kids and a copy of Icha-Icha out. The morning was surprisingly warm and it felt good to soak in the few rays of sunlight and sit atop a tree with some of Jiraiya's best pornographic material in hand. If the jounin closed his eyes now, he could almost believe he was back home.

Idly, he wondered if Sakura was also being given some menial task before chiding himself for the thousandth time for thinking of her at all.

"_Kakashi, I'm sorry... I just-"_

"_Save it."_

"_But... please don't be mad… I love you…"_

"_Don't make me repeat myself."_

Had he been too hard on her? Certainly not.

Hadn't he made it especially clear that she was _not_ to remove his mask under any circumstances?

It wasn't that he couldn't understand why she'd done it. Natural curiosity was a huge factor, especially in budding young kunoichi. But there were many ways she could have gone about it. Hell, if he was being honest, she could have probably persuaded him to take the damn cloth off himself. But instead of asking, or devising another plan that somehow involved his consent in any way, she had done it while he slept. And in doing so, had betrayed his trust in a way not many people were capable of. Of course, that could be because Hatake Kakashi did not trust many people to start with – and this was a clear reminder of why that was.

But he wasn't going to think of Sakura now. He wasn't going to think of her tear stained face, or her damp pink hair, or her glistening green eyes. No, he really wasn't going to think of the emerald eyes that made him want to dig a hole in the sand, crawl into it and never come out.

?!-!?-?!-!?

Sakura's all important mission turned out to be one of the most ridiculous she had ever been on. In the note she had received, it stated that jounin was to walk the entire southern beach collecting sea shells of all things. She was supposed to collect as many shells of which had washed up on shore and then sort through them to see which could be sent to the shops to be polished and turned into souvenirs that could be shipped outside Kiri. Apparently, Mist _did_ have other sources of income – even if they were meager ones like this.

Sakura couldn't remember doing something so pointless since her genin days. Hell, even her mission with Team Seven to recover that stupid cat, Tora, had been more interesting.

Unfortunately, Sakura had no say in the mission she was given. Not to mention this was the worst type of job she could possibly be given, because it kept her hands and feet busy but let her mind wander – something she really didn't want to do right now.

Was that another shell? Sakura bent down to check but it was only a bit of fish skeleton. Sighing, she continued on with her half full basket.

She fully understood that she had betrayed his trust. But why was he so protective over the mask anyway? It's not like he had anything under it to be ashamed of. No, Sakura quickly shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts. She was _not_ going to think of his face. Not now. Not out here.

Scanning the stretch of beach carefully for any missed shells to try and distract herself, the emerald eyed kunoichi raised her hand to shield her eyes, trying to get a better of view of the sand. The sun was out and while Sakura appreciated the warmth it brought, it wasn't helping her vision in any way.

Sakura continued her mundane task for two hours before finally sinking to her knees on the sand out of sheer boredom. She was a kunoichi goddammit, not some romance novel heroine from the fifties. She should be at the clinic now, helping Tsuki with the patients or reorganizing the medicine shelves or mixing herbs for new remedies. Anything but collecting damn sea shells.

"Sakura-neechan…" Sakura looked up from her arms to see a very familiar blonde head of curls. "Are you okay?"

"Oh hello, Moegi-chan. I see I'm not "ma'am" anymore," said the medic and smiled to show she didn't mind the new address at all.

The girl blushed but appeared please.

"What are you doing here, Nee-chan?" she asked.

"I'm… supposed to be on a mission…" Sakura trailed off. And to think she had just told the child not a few hours ago that kunoichi were real ninja too.

"Is that why you're so tired?" asked the genin inquisitively.

Sakura considered lying for a second to the younger girl but decided against it.

"I'm not tired, Moegi-chan. I'm just bored. This mission is… well, pretty stupid, actually."

The child's eyes went wide at Sakura's words and belatedly, Sakura realized that the young genin were not taught to question the missions they were given – only to carry them out or die trying. The jounin was just considering how to tactfully take back her words when she saw Moegi looking at her with something akin to adoration in her deep blue eyes.

And for some reason, Sakura felt like reaching out and hugging the girl. She may not look anything like Moegi from Team Ebisu but that admiring look and the address of "Nee-chan" made something twist in the pink haired girl's chest.

Swallowing the lump that had taken up permanent residence in her throat ever since her return from Little Seal Island, Sakura explained what she had to do.

"Oh, that's all? I can help with that, Nee-chan," the little girl chirped, easily getting into step beside Sakura.

"I'm afraid even with the two of us, it'll take hours," Sakura sighed. "Besides, don't you have to be at school?"

"Our sensei is out sick today," the genin announced jubilantly. "And our substitute is a really lazy man who's just sitting in a tree and reading a book."

"Really, does he have silver hair and wears a mask?"

"Yes, he does. Why are you smiling, Sakura-neechan?" asked he girl curiously,

"Lazy bastard," murmured Sakura affectionately. "Reading porn in front of kids."

The memory of how team seven had first met Kakashi made the knot in her chest twist even more.

"Sorry?"

"Nothing, Moegi-chan. I know the man you're talking about." Sakura nodded to the girl skipping beside her.

"Are you his friend?"

"I was."

"Did he make you cry, Sakura-neechan? Because that's how I stopped being friends with Kaide-chan," the girl provided in as helpful a manner as she could. "See, Kaide-chan and I were really good friends but then we both started liking Shunsui-kun and she pushed me to the ground and made me cry. So we're not friends anymore," the girl continued seriously.

This time, Sakura really did turn to the girl and hug the blonde. Moegi's "Oh" of surprise though, was quickly replaced by a pretty smile at being hugged by the object of her adoration.

"Moegi-chan, will you listen to me if I try to give you some advice?"

The girl nodded her consent.

"See, the thing about boys is, they come and they go as they see fit. But friends are always your friends. So you shouldn't just stop being friends with them just because you two had an argument or if one made the other cry." Sakura tried to explain.

"Hmm," the girl seemed to be considering the older women's words. "But what happens if your friend is a boy and he made you cry? Will he come and go as he sees fit or will he be there for always?" asked the girl as though she had found a loophole in Sakura's brilliant theory. On her part, Sakura had to give the girl credit. Little Moegi would make a pretty sassy kunoichi some day. 

"I don't know, Moegi-chan," the medic admitted. "I don't know."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter VII – In Which The Genin Are Educated**

It took Sakura, Moegi and two other girls who were friends of the blonde genin three hours to collect the rest of the shells and sort them out. Had Sakura been doing it alone, no doubt it would have taken an entire day but thanks to the help of her newly made friends, Sakura was back in time for the evening shift, relieving a tired Tsuki of her post.

"How was the mission, Haruno-chan?" asked Tsuki tentatively, only to see Sakura flash a smile.

"Not as bad you'd think, Tsuki-san."

"I'm glad," the dark haired girl said sincerely. "Did you send a mission report to the admin yet?"

"Yes, wrote it on the way back. Moegi-chan must be delivering it right now," Sakura couldn't keep a note of smugness out of her voice.

?!-!?-?!-!?

Moegi had indeed rushed to the Main building as soon as Sakura had given her the report. And it was with a huge smile plastered all over her pretty face that she handed the report to Isagi Shuu and skipped out of the building.

However, the genin's report was not received half as cheerfully as it had been delivered.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE'S DONE? IT'S BARELY AFTER LUNCH!" raged Mei as her poor intern cast longing looks at the door.

"The... uhh, material has been collected sorted and sent to the relevant suppliers, Mizukage-sama…" the aide offered and upon seeing the glare Mei was sending his way, shut up instantly.

"There is no way in hell the girl could have cleared the entire southern beach in only a few hours. She must have had help," Mei said, her voice taking on that slow quality when she was trying to work something out. "The question is, who here in Kiri would be so kind as to help out our poor little medic?"

"Who indeed…" Shuu echoed.

?!-!?-?!-!?

The next day, Sakura was thankfully mission free and her work only involved duties at the clinic. Moegi and her friends (who had helpfully offered to keep an eye on "that weird man who likes to read" for their new hero) dropped by with status reports and were rewarded with candy. Tsuki chimed in as well on the gossip and was soon caught up with how the girls had helped Sakura on her "mission".

It had been quite amusing for the pink haired jounin to see her fellow medic's eyes go wide in surprise and excitement as though she was being told a most thrilling tale. The genin on their part had entirely too much fun munching on assorted sweets and telling and retelling the story of how they'd helped their Sakura-neechan.

The next day however, Moegi was back with a note for Sakura who opened it with a resigned sigh.

"What does it say, Nee-chan?" the genin bounced enthusiastically on the balls of her feet.

"Apparently, some farmers on the other side of the island need help digging trenches," replied Sakura.

"Oh no, that sounds like hard work," the blonde exclaimed. "I'll ask some of the boys to come as well as my other friends."

"Actually, it won't be as hard as you think, Moegi-chan. But tell me; is your sensei still out sick?"

The girl nodded happily in response.

"Okay, then gather up as many students who'd like to go and meet me at the mission site. I'll be there in twenty minutes," Sakura winked at the younger girl. "After all, just because your teacher's out doesn't mean you guys don't have to be educated."

?!-!?-?!-!?

"Moegi, where is this awesome lady you wanted to show us?" challenged Kaide and the blonde genin hoped nothing had happened to her new friend.

"She's going to be here any minute now, Kaide." Moegi retorted with more confidence than she felt. Since she really had no idea what the Konoha jounin had in mind, she'd just rushed to her classmates and told them something really cool was in store for them if they followed her. More than half her classmates had come along because they were simply bored of trying to scale the wall for two days now and their substitute didn't seem like he was going to help them – or say anything to them for that matter. Kaide and her posse had came along just to make fun of Moegi when that "something really cool" did not appear, of which they were sure.

"Bet Moegi made up the medic. I mean, who has bright pink hair, Kaide-chan?" remarked a snobby looking brunette who seemed to be glued to Kaide's side.

"Oh, I know it's a very unusual color. But what can I say? My dad gets a lot of grief because of it too."

"Sakura-neechan!" squealed Moegi, running over to the jounin walking up the path. The girl beside Kaide blushed.

"Sorry I'm late everyone, I was just getting us some protection," explained Sakura gesturing to the bag she held.

"Moegi-chan, could you please pass a pair of these gloves to everyone? I don't know how many of you there'd be so I only brought fifteen pairs. But we can easily swap if they're not enough."

As it turned out, there were a few extras when everyone was gloved.

"Now, the farmers around this area wanted some trenches dug and I thought it would be a great chance to teach you guys a couple of neat tricks I picked up from my own village," continued Sakura brightly. "So today we're going to-"

"What? You're going to make us dig holes?! _That's_ why you had Moegi bring us here?" complained a blue haired girl.

"Shut up, Kaide!" Moegi said, embarrassed at how close her friend turned rival was to the truth.

"Ah, so you're Kaide-chan," asked Sakura with a raised eyebrow. "Well, Kaide-chan, I don't know about you but we were always told to listen first and raise an objection later."

Kaide visibly shrank at Sakura's polite but firm tone.

"Now, as I was saying, the farmers want trenches dug but as you'de see, – if you weren't too busy complaining – we don't seem to have any shovels or tools to dig with."

"Wow, you're right, Miss! How're we supposed to dig, with our bare hands?" a cute green haired boy with intense green eyes to match asked and Sakura was left with no doubt that this was the Shunsui-kun who had unknowingly become the cause of the feud between Moegi and Kaide.

"Actually, yes, that's exactly what we're going to do," replied Sakura, directing the slightest amount of chakra to her fingertips and touching it to the ground a safe distance away from the kids. In a moment, the ground she'd touched exploded, leaving a neat, two feet deep hole.

"Wow!" exclaimed several genin. "Can you teach us how to do that, Nii-chan?"

"That's the plan for today, kids!"

?!-!?-?!-!?

Was it Kakashi's imagination or were there lesser kids today than there had been yesterday? He could have sworn there were more little demons running around the wall on his first two days of duty. Unfortunately, due to the sun having kept up its winning streak against the mist, the silver haired ninja had found a more comfortable branch from where he could read, watch the little brats and even take the occasional nap – which meant he couldn't be entirely sure if any of his young charges were missing.

He wondered what Sakura would think she found out he was sleeping on the job but again, did not let his mind wonder that way. What the hell was wrong with him anyway? It seemed like he only had to let his guard down for a second for her to come sauntering into his head.

Kakashi had no idea why the girl was so important to him. She was not the first woman he'd been with, not by a long shot. So why couldn't he forget about her the way he'd forgotten all those other women? Well, he supposed it could be explained logically to a certain extent. The kunoichi in question _was_ pretty exceptional. Take her vivid pink hair for example. And those green eyes and her soft, curv-

No way, he was not thinking about her. Not even to explain to himself why he _shouldn't_ be thinking of her which made the whole line of thought rather redundant anyway.

Raising the book to cover his face, he decided he needed another nap. And it was not because they were the only times Sakura could come into his mind and he would be helpless to do anything about it.

?!-!?-?!-!?

"SHUU!"

"M-m-mizukage-sama…" the young chunin was positively trembling. He should have known better than to deliver Haruno Sakura's mission report to his Ladyship _before_ her afternoon tea.

"What is the meaning of this, Shuu? She had completed every mission we've given her this week in record time. How is she doing this, boy?" sneered the red head and for the first time, Shuu realized how unattractive his Mizukage looked up close.

"I d-d-don't know, ma'am,"

"Then find out, you worthless scum! FIND OUT!" hollered Mei, sending her intern ducking for cover.

?!-!?-?!-!?

The following two weeks were rather uniform for both Kakashi and Sakura, though neither of them knew this of course. The school teacher Kakashi was supposed to be relieving had fallen serisouly ill and the Copy Ninja had been asked to continue his tenure with the kids seeing as they appeared to be faring fine under his tutelage.

Some of them had even managed to scale that wall completely and had now moved on to the pond in the school's back yard. Kakashi had no idea how the kids were improving but he supposed they grew rather like plants and shrubs – perfectly when left alone and terribly hard when fussed over.

So now, in addition to keeping an eye on the wall, Kakashi had to divide his attention to the pond as well. Though he'd personally made sure it wasn't deep enough for anyone to drown in and make his task more difficult, he still kept a close watch when awake because man, some of those kids were really getting good at this. A blonde, blue eyed little girl could even take a couple of steps without losing her balance. And she had to be only nine or ten at most. He briefly wondered if he should ask the bright little genin her name or look her up in the class records but decided to go back to Icha-Icha instead.

Sakura on her part continued with her medical obligations as well as her "other missions" which ranged from the boring to the downright useless. For instance, what was the point of reorganizing the medical files of all the ninjas according to rank and missions numbers when there already was a general alphabetical categorization? And hauling all those loads of laundry for the Mizukage to the local cleaner, surely some genin would have been better suited for that particular task?

Sakura found her tasks becoming more and more pointless as the days went by and what was sadder still, most of these tasks required only one person so she couldn't ask Moegi and her friends for company either. However, that didn't keep the genin from popping into the clinic whenever she suspected her Sakura-niichan to be there. And when the jounin wasn't present, Moegi simply helped around and talked to Tsuki who certainly did not mind the company.

"Tsuki-neechan, why does Sakura-neechan look sad sometimes?" asked Moegi one day as she was restocking the medicine cabinet in Sakura's absence.

"Well… she's not very sad, Meogi-chan..." Tsuki tried to avoid the topic. "Here, roll up the extra bandages like this."

Moegi did as she was instructed, still pursuing the topic determinedly. "I don't know, she laughs and smiles a lot but when she thinks we're not looking, Nee-chan always gets this look in her eyes. Like she's missing someone…"

Tsuki averted her gaze from the younger girl, not wanting the genin to know how close to home Moegi's words had hit.

"I remember that look in Oka-chan's eyes, when daddy passed away. I was very little then but I remember Oka-chan used to cry and cry. And then one day she stopped crying and just had that empty look in her eyes," Moegi admitted, her head bowed and gaze stuck firmly to her left shoe. "Mommy never talked about daddy after that, just like Sakura-neechan never talks about Hatake-sensei."

Tsuki tried to keep her tears in check. The last thing she needed was to weep in front of an already distraught little girl. But there was so much truth in the child's observation. On the surface, Sakura seemed fine. Better than fine. She was dealing with everything she was given in such a brave way that it filled Tsuki with complete admiration for her colleague. But Tsuki had also seen the faraway look in the jounin's eyes that Moegi had just mentioned.

It happened during the most trivial of moments; Tsuki would tell Sakura to pass the new patient's chart and Sakura would be lost somewhere and had to be gently woken out of her reverie. Or while handing out sweets to the genin, Sakura would suddenly stop, shake herself and continue passing the candy. The Konoha medic may not have said a word about Kakashi but Tsuki was ready to bet all of her and Koi's savings that Hatake-san was always on her pink haired friend's mind.

"Can't we do something about it, Tsuki-neechan?" Moegi asked, interrupting the medic's train of thought.

"I don't think so, Moegi-chan," said Tsuki softly, dropping her gaze to the supply forms requesting more medicine she had yet to fill out. "Sometimes, we just have to leave things be."

"And what happens if they just get worse?"

Tsuki took the nearest pen and got to work, pretending she hadn't heard the question.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter VIII - In Which Moegi Cries**

Okay, something was definitely up. How were they getting so good?

Kakashi had had to change to yet another tree branch because in the few weeks he'd been watching the genin, every single one had somehow managed to walk vertically up that brick wall and down the other side. And now, the kids were all crowded around the minuscule excuse of a pond. Of course, seeing as the pond was not even wide enough for four children to practice effectively, there was a lot of shouting, yelling, shoving and pushing that kept Kakashi from reading or sleeping.

So, in the best interest of everyone involved, Kakashi gathered up the kids and suggested they head out in search of a larger body of water where everyone could practice without jostling for space. Unfortunately, the Copy Ninja hit a snag in the early stages of his well intentioned plans.

"So… does anyone know a place we can go to?"

"There's a bigger pond on the north side of the island, just behind training ground twelve," a blue haired girl suggested.

"Ew! Kaide-chan, that pond is so _dirty_," a red headed boy wrinkled his nose in disgust. The boy looked no older than eight and Kakashi wondered yet again how the genin could possibly have learned to direct chakra as well as he did.

"How about the southern beach? That area's fairly clean and it shouldn't be too busy right now," a boy with a serious face, green hair and even greener eyes suggested.

"Oh, Shunsui-kun, you're so clever," the blue haired girl purred, making Kakashi shudder. He knew a fangirl in the making when he saw one.

However, this Shunsui kid must have been influential because soon, there was a chorus of agreement among the genin and in five minutes, they were all lined up and ready to head out.

"Lead the way," the jounin said as he fell into step beside his troop.

?!-!?-?!-!?

"But Neee-chaaan!" a few days later found Meogi pouting as she helped Sakura make the empty beds in the small clinic.

"But nothing, Moegi-chan," the jounin said patiently. "I've already taught you guys the basics of chakra control, you can practice on your own now. You guys really don't need me anymore."

"But we want you to teach us," Moegi reasoned. "You're a much better instructor than Lazy-sensei. First all he did was read and sleep on a tree and now he does the same on the beach. He's a horrible teacher," the blonde concluded, handing Sakura a pillow.

"We thought so too…" said Sakura, a faraway look in her eyes and Moegi noticed the medic had stopped what she was doing.

"What do you mean?"

"We thought he was the worst teacher in the world. He was never ever on time, you know. Why, he was even late on the very first day…"

"That sounds like something he would do," Moegi nodded wisely.

"He had the most unconventional training methods in all of Konoha," continued Sakura with a dreamy look on her face. "He made us run around swamps, shampoo his dogs, do his laundry. Sasuke almost burnt his sheets out of anger one time."

"Good," the genin said, nodding her head enthusiastically.

"We thought we were the unluckiest group of genin ever, to be stuck with the laziest, most irresponsible person to ever exist," The older girl continued with a fond look in her eyes.

"You thought right, Nee-chan!" Moegi proclaimed and went back to tucking in the sheets.

"Until he stood between us and a deadly assassin and told us he would give his life to protect us…" finished the jounin, making her young charge look up with renewed interest.

"Did he, really?"

"Countless times, Moegi-chan," replied the medic, a wistful note in her voice. "And in more ways than you can imagine. He saved all of us…"

?!-!?-?!-!?

"Lady Mei, we've j—"

"Where are your manners, boy?" snapped the Mizukage, glancing up from her paperwork. Belatedly, she realized she still had her reading glasses on and snatched them off her nose, daring the boy to comment. Wisely, the aide kept silent on that regard.

"Gomenasai, Mizukage-sama. I just thought Mei-sama would be interested to know how Haruno Sakura has been completing her mission in such an exemplary fashion."

"What, you've figured it out?" asked Mei, tone completely changed. "Oh you clever, clever boy. Why don't you take a seat, dear?" The red head simpered.

"Arigatou, Lady Mizukage," said Shuu respectfully but ignored the offer of a seat. "It seems that Haruno has been receiving help from some Village genin. According to the reports, one genin in particular, Koiruko Moegi, has grown very much attached to Haruno and even addresses her as "Sakura-neechan"," announced the boy with a flourish.

"Hmm… and how did Haruno know this brat?"

"Our sources report that she's the same girl put in charge of delivering Haruno's mission details to her. It's safe to assume that the two struck up a friendship from there. As for the other children, they have been seen many times with Haruno as well," Shuu continued.

"And what exactly has she been doing with the genin?" the Mizukage asked.

"She appears to be… helping them train. She's been spotted several times at various locations helping them manipulate their chakra. And the rapid progress of the genin in question suggests she's really… good…" Shuu trailed off before his Ladyship flew into another rage.

"Really, Shuu? And where exactly does Haruno train with the kids?" Mei questioned - a particularly evil gleam in her eyes. "And shouldn't those brats be in school, anyway?"

"Hai, Mei-sama. But I've received word that the instructor on duty at the school has fallen ill and some other ninja has taken his place these last few weeks. Must be some irresponsible chunin from the east unit, Ma'am," the aide suggested. "As for the location, there doesn't appear to be a specific time or venue that Haruno and the children have previously agreed upon. She usually teaches them during her missions…"

"What? That Leaf bitch has been teaching kids AND doing the missions?" Mei's eyebrows rose up in disbelief.

"It would seem so, Lady Mizukage."

"Wait, did you say the children have been out of school and in various areas all around the island, _unsupervised_?"

"They've been with Haruno, ma'am," affirmed Shuu.

"So tell me, boy, what does the law say on kidnapping our precious young children?" Mei asked innocently making her young aide gasp in surprise.

And as the Mizukage and her aide discussed the technicality of the law, no one noticed a small, dark haired figure creep out of the outer office, obviously having heard everything that was said through the half-opened door.

?!-!?-?!-!?

"Hatake-sensei, are you ever going to teach us anything?" a voice interrupted page three hundred and forty two of Icha-Icha Violence. With a barely concealed sigh, Kakashi marked the page carefully and closed the book.

"And what's your name, little girl?" asked the jounin lazily.

"Moegi," the girl replied smartly, not to be deterred. "And when will you teach us something? You've been watching us for weeks now and you haven't done anything but read and sleep!" the genin accused.

"Hn, I know another little girl named Moegi in Konoha," Kakashi tried, attempting to steer the topic away from his teaching methods, or lack of them, more like.

"I know, but she's not a blonde like me," the genin said hastily and stubbornly continued on her earlier line of discussion. "So, are we going to learn anything at all from you, _sensei_?"

Kakashi wanted to say "And she's not as annoying as you, either" but bit back that reply. There was no point getting into a childish argument with, well, a child. Wait a minute…

"How did you know the Moegi I know isn't blonde?" He questioned, his visible eyebrow raised.

"Oh, Nee-chan told me," the child replied as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well, that clears everything up," the jounin said dryly. "Is there anything else you all know on what 'Nee-chan' says about _me_?"

Kakashi expected another question posed at his unusual methods, even an angry outburst or a disrespectful comeback – well, as disrespectful as a child was allowed to be to a grown up. After all, he wasn't entirely undeserving of this little girl's wrath. He supposed he had been a tad bit unproductive when it came to the genin. However, what he did not expect was what the girl did next.

Little Moegi burst into tears.

And not just silent tears, no. The girl's small frame shook with great big heaving sobs as strangled incoherent sounds tried to make their way out of her mouth. If Kakashi had been less surprised by the blonde's outburst, he would have wondered how such a small girl could have so much liquid inside her. For tear after tear rushed out of her blue eyes, down her cheeks and onto her simple tunic.

Kakashi wondered what had prompted such a reaction from the genin. Could it have been something he said? Great… weeping girls were really not his forte, Sakura could attest to that better than anyone else. Awkwardly, he tried to pat the girl's shoulder.

The genin flinched at his touch as though burnt.

"Y-y-y-you're a h-h-h-orrible m-m-man," the girl sobbed miserably. "Y-y-you make N-n-nee-ch-chan s-s-sad all the t-t-time. She-she says you're a g-good person but then she looks like O-oka-chan and even when she smiles, she's s-sad. Sakura-neechan d-defends you all th-the time and always asks ab-about you and all you do is r-r-read your book."

Sakura-neechan… Sakura… His Sakura…

"Y-you don't c-c-care about her. You m-m-make her cry and she p-puts up with everything Mei-sama asks and she smiles but we all know she doesn't m-mean it. And Sakura nee-chan says she d-d-doesn't even know why she l-l-loves you." The distressed girl finished with a hiccup, wiping fiercely at the remainders of her tears.

"You know Moegi-chan, neither do I."

"What does that mean?" the girl demanded with a final sniff.

"What it means is that I have a lot of apologizing to do… to you, your friends and most of all, you Sakura-neechan," the silver haired ninja admitted and had Moegi been able to see his face or read his voice better, she would have understood how much he meant it.

As though by magic, a huge smile lit up the girl's features and she tugged his hand. "Come on then, I know where she is. Nee-chan's probably at the clinic and-"

"Sumimasen, Hatake-san, Moegi-chan… I think Haruno-chan's in trouble." A timid voice said from behind the two.

?!-!?-?!-!?

"I demand to know why I was brought here!"

"Haruno Sakura, you stand accused, don't make your situation any worse!"

"Accused of what, exactly?"

"Among other things, the abduction of several genin."

"What the hell? Is that why these fish-faced freaks showed up?" The kunoichi asked, livid. She had been at the clinic earlier, attending to her patients when two men with masks and appeared and grabbed her. Sakura had ducked defensively and landed a punch on one of the man's shoulder before she had recognized the masks.

"Haruno Sakura, you are in a very delicate position right now, insulting our ANBU force will not better your predicament any," Shuu said, a hint of irritation in his voice.

"Did anyone tell you your mommy dresses you up like a sofa?" Sakura shot back defiantly.

"Ah, personal insults," muttered Shuu while rapping smartly on the door to Mei's office. "Permission to enter, Lady Mei!"

"Enter," drawled the Mizukage and to an experienced ear like Shuu's, it was clear that the red head was going to cork open her finest bottle of sake once Haruno was sentenced.

"Arigatou, Mizukage-sama,' the young man bowed. "I have here with me the accused, Haruno Sakura of the Leaf Village."

"Good morning, Mizukage-sama," muttered Sakura.

"Ah, Haruno. Still haven't found any manners, I see," Mei commented, forcing the young kunoichi to bend her head a little into something resembling a bow.

"My apologies, Mei-sama," the medic replied in a tone quite at odd with her words.

"Well, get on with it, Shuu," the Mizukage gestured to the aide who promptly started with his speech.

"Haruno Sakura, eighteen, female, jounin of the Leaf Village, here in Kiri working as a medic under the treaty signed by both aforementioned Shinobi villages, stands accused of one: Assaulting a member of the ANBU Black Ops with possible intend to kill-"

"The hell, I did. I was holding back with that punch!" interrupted Sakura,

"Haruno, the man has a severely dislocated shoulder and several bone fractures. If you weren't coming at him with the intent to kill, what else were you doing?" Shuu fired back.

"Would you like me to demonstrate the extent of damage I can do, Shuu-san? I'm sure Mizukage-sama can bear witness to what "coming at someone with killing intent" means in my case." The jounin offered testily and was rewarded with a fleeting look of panic in the boy's eyes.

"Quiet! Shuu, continue please," Mei ordered, nail's itching to tap the desk in irritation.

"Two, the abduction of several genin from their school with intent of causing harm."

"And what harm have I caused them, exactly, Shuu-san?" asked the medic coolly.

"The genin will go through close examination to determine the extent of damages they've suffered. And regardless of that, you did abduct them."

"But I-"

"Did you, or did you not drag them all around the island for various missions and bring them into possible dangerous locations? Our sources report you even used explosives doing your 'teaching methods'," the aide finished smugly.

"I didn't use explosives," muttered Sakura.

"So you _did_ abduct those children from school while their teacher wasn't looking?" asked Shuu with the air of someone who'd finally cornered a long sought after prey.

Sakura remained silent. If she told the truth, either the kids or Kakashi would be in trouble and neither was an option that was favorable to her.

"So you're not even going to deny it, girl?" Mei asked incredulously.

"Deny what?" a very familiar voice floated from the door which had just been opened. A head of silver hair appeared from behind the door and a wholly insincere "Oops, I meant, Permission to enter, Mizukage-sama," followed the man's entrance into the room. Sakura was too stunned to speak.

"Hatake-san, your request has not been approved yet; maybe you'll wait outside and let us deal with Haruno here first." Mei stated firmly. Unfortunately, her tone did nothing to make the Copy ninja back out.

"My deepest apologies, Mizukage-sama. I was told Haruno-sensei was here so I came over to see if everything was okay," said Kakashi as innocently as he could. "You see, when she didn't turn up today to help me with the children, I got worried. Well, the children got more worried, actually. She's very good with them, you know," the man deadpanned and Sakura knew there was a huge smirk on his face behind that mask.

"And what, pray tell, were you doing with the children, Hatake-san?" asked Shuu and Mei bit her lip. That stupid boy really needed to learn to keep his trap shut and use his brain.

"Why, carrying out my mission, of course. I'm sure you're aware that I was put in charge of looking after them when their sensei fell sick," explained Kakashi with an air of someone explaining to a particularly thick toddler that A came before B.

"You… were..?"

"Yes, of course. What did you think, Shuu-san? That Haruno-sensei would just abduct the children right under my nose and I wouldn't notice?" questioned Kakashi and despite the bizarreness of the circumstances, Sakura tried not to giggle.

"Well... we…" the young aide began only to be cut off by the older jounin.

"See, the thing is, Haruno-sensei is a lot better with children than I am. I don't know who assigned me this mission but it appears they failed to check my background. I haven't taught anyone for about five years now and well, I'm sure I don't have to point out Haruno-sensei's excellent chakra control."

"It is not for you to decide the competence of those who hand out missions, Hatake!"

"Which is _exactly_ why I didn't raise an objection earlier. You see, Mei-sama, I have complete faith in the system," the Sharingan user deadpanned and Sakura couldn't hold back her laughter.

"Sumimasen, Mei-sama, Shuu-san, Hatake-san… must be the dust in this area… terribly allergic..." Sakura tried to excuse herself.

"Bless you, Haruno-san. Maybe we should get you to the clinic and have you looked at. Wouldn't want you falling sick, the children will never forgive me," Kakashi said politely and then raised a silver eyebrow at the Mizukage and her aide. "That is, if her Ladyship and Shuu-san are done with you."

"B-but, you can't…" stuttered the aide but before he could continue, the Mizukage interrupted in a firm tone.

"Yes, you both may leave. Our resources on this matter clearly leave a lot to be desired but rest assured we'll look into them. As it is, I apologize for the inconvenience."

"Arigatou gozaimasu, Mizukage-sama," both Leaf nin said in unison and exited the office, leaving a gaping Isagi Shuu in their wake.


	9. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Sakura watched the sun slowly making its way into the calm waters of Kiri. In all the time she'd been here, she could not believe she hadn't seen a single proper sunset.

"What are you looking at?" Kakashi asked lazily from his position on the sand beside her. It was rare that they both had an evening mission free but she supposed the admins were cutting them some slack on one of their last days on the island.

"The sun," Sakura replied, turning her clear emerald gaze to her lover. "What about you, what are you looking at?"

"You," he stated simply before kissing her forehead lightly. The kunoichi blushed pleasantly and ran her fingers up his unmasked face and into his silver hair. They might look rough and spiky but Sakura knew firsthand how soft and, in their own way, beautiful they were – just like their owner.

"Sakura-neechan!" a voice drifted from further away and both jounin automatically sat up on the picnic cloth Tsuki had kindly lent them for the occasion. The two adults were barely up when Moegi's blonde head bobbed into view. However, with a surprise in tow.

"Hello Moegi-chan, Kaide-chan. What are you two doing here?" asked Sakura with a smile.

"Nee-chan, we just came to tell you that…" the genin blushed; clearly embarrassed about what she was going to say.

"Go on," the medic encouraged Moegi but it was the other girl who spoke.

Taking her classmate and friend's hands in her own, Kaide said, "We just came to tell you that we're not fighting anymore, Sakura-neechan,"

"That's wonderful," the pink haired jounin exclaimed. "I'm so proud of you two."

"Yes, well… I remembered what you said that day when we were collecting shells. And I wanted to be brave like you so I finally talked to Kaide-chan and…" the girl shrugged, unable to the find words to continue her story. She didn't have to; Sakura knew exactly what was on the genin's mind because it was written plainly in her blue eyes as well as in the darker ones of her friend.

"And what about Shunsui-kun?" she asked teasingly. This time, it was Kaide who answered.

"Shunsui-kun has a brain, he can pick whichever girl he likes," the girl stated flatly. "We don't think his choice should have anything to do with us being friends or not."

"Good for you, Kaide-chan. You've both made a very wise decision and someday you'll both realize just how valuable real friends can be."

"Like you and Hatake-sensei?" asked Moegi innocently, her tone fooling no one.

"Yes, just like us," Kakashi replied, putting an arm around Sakura and making all three girls blush.

"Nee-chan..." Moegi began tentatively. "Tsuki-neechan says you're going back to Konoha soon. Is that true..?"

Both Kakashi and Sakura looked at the young girl they'd grown so fond of. Neither had broken to news to the kid yet and it wasn't surprising that Tsuki had yet again helped them out.

"Yes, Moegi-chan. We leave day after tomorrow." Sakura confirmed with a nod of her head.

"Is it because you're mad at Mei-sama?" Kaide questioned.

"No, Kaide-chan," said Kakashi in an even tone. "We're not mad at anyone. If anything, we're grateful to her for letting us go home."

"But why do you have to go, sensei?" asked Moegi dolefully. "Inari-sensei is still sick and we need you here. And Nee-chan too."

"Oh Moegi-chan, don't be sad," said Sakura holding out her arms and pulling the girl close. "You'll get a new sensei and we'll see each other again really soon. I'll make sure to take up more missions in Kiri and we can write to each other all the time," the kunoichi coaxed the child who looked like she was about to cry.

"R-really?" the blonde asked.

"Really," Sakura assured.

"Okay," the girl nodded and smiled, albeit a small one.

"Now shouldn't you two be getting home? It's almost dark and your families must be worried," said Kakashi and both girls were startled out of their thoughts.

"You're right, sensei. Oka-chan will be worried. Bye! Bye Nee-chan, we'll see you tomorrow!" and in a series of waves and shouts, the girls were gone, leaving the two lovers alone on the beach.

Kakashi abandoned his sitting position as soon as the girls were out of sight and lay down on his back again, softly nudging Sakura to join him. The girl did so but instead of lying beside him, she chose to position her body on top of his, slowly taking of the mask he had hurriedly pulled on when they'd heard the girls approaching.

"Nice save there, _sensei_," Sakura teased, her mouth so close to his, he could feel her lips moving as she spoke.

"What do you mean?" he whispered back, maintaining that hairbreadth distance.

"About you being grateful to Mei-sama," she murmured.

"I meant it," Kakashi said genuinely.

"Why?"

"Because," the jounin whispered conspirationally. "She could've made things a lot worse for us. I don't think she was out to get us, just trying to protect her village."

"Really? Is that why she let us off the hook?"

"No, I think she let us off the hook because I charged in there bravely to rescue you,' said Kakashi trying to capture his lover's lips with his own only to have her roll off of him in a blink of an eye. "Hey, what gives?"

"Rescue me? You think the Mizukage let us go because she was impressed by your stupidity and complete disregard for the rules?"

Kakashi sighed and sat up too. One of his arms gently went around Sakura as he leaned in for the long awaited kiss. "Well, you know what they say…"

"Tell me, what _do_ they say?"

"Venus favors the bold."


	10. Author's Note

_**Disclaimer, Notes and Acknowledgement**_

Since there was so much to say about this fic, I decided to separate it instead of inserting it in a chapter of the story. My apologies if this upsets anyone and if anybody wishes to skip this part, they are free to do so.

Firstly, I do not own Naruto – only Masashi Kishimoto can claim to do so. I do however; enjoy messing around with his world because I feel he isn't doing a good enough job with it. But that is, of course, my opinion only.

Secondly, I do not own the myth of Eros and Psyche either, and I'm not entirely sure who does or they would be credited likewise.

This work of fanfiction was written for the Mythology Challenge hosted on the Kakasaku community on LiveJournal by the wonderfully creative Zelha. It is thanks to her that you will find many wonderful pieces of fiction here that reflect the myths of Gods and Heroes. The last line of my story is a quote from Ovid about Venus, in keeping with the rules of the contest.

This has been the hardest fic I've ever written to date not just because of the length but the amount of behind-the-scenes work that went into it. Cranking it out between college, the hospital and God-knows-where-else was no easy task. Not to mention my laptop – the traitor that it is – decided it would be a good time to crash just as I was typing up the final scene of the last chapter. Result: I spent the next day frantically typing up the five thousand or so words it had swallowed.

This story was meant to be longer – a lot longer – but because of severe editing, a lot of things have been left out and will probably be posted as off-shots or companion ficlets sometime in the future. I don't think Shuu will ever forgive me if I leave out his secret ambitious streak and his fight with Matsuri in the finals of the chunin exams, or if I'll be able to forgive myself if I don't write about Tsuki and her relationship with her abusive husband, Koi. Then there are my girls who won't forgive me if I don't post Kakasaku smut.

Needless to say, this project drove me crazy for the duration of it, as my friends can easily testify. And since those friends were so wonderful and supportive, they also need to be mentioned here.

Firstly, my beloved Ze, who also beta-ed this story. She sacrificed her own sleep and days right along with me because she's just awesome that way. I appreciate all her help, advice, encouragement and mini Japanese lessons more than I can put into words. Thank you so much for being just you, Ze ze.

Rachel/Sezjera for being my punctuation savior and also for sacrificing her time and energy to help me when she doesn't even know the Narutoverse.

Monkshadow, Denilmo, Cleaheart, Nimblenymph, Qualapec, Omizu, Scary Rei (Sakura's lip gloss was inspired by her, people), Saphri, J pop, Slinkymilinky, Sayuri-No-Moe and everyone else at the OLP Cougar Den who kept up the cheering, advice, critique and just plain awesomeness. You'll never meet a more amazing bunch of girls than the ones in the Den. And as for Monk, I think all the ladies can testify to his awesomeness.

Also, a shout out to my dear, Maryam, who at least attempted to make me sleep and eat while I was working on this project. I'm not saying she succeeded but she sure as hell tried.

A very special thanks goes out to Flametwirler who was there to bounce ideas off of, to offer suggestions and who was a generally awesome bitching buddy. Sometimes the best encouragement you can get is from a fellow sufferer. I wish her the very best of luck with her own entry.

Finally, if you've managed to read this far, kudos to you. Just for kicks, leave an "I am so not made of macaroni" in your review so I'll know and maybe can repay the favor by reading something of yours or thank you properly for your time and effort.

If you enjoyed this story, please vote for it at the Kakasaku community mentioned above. If you did not enjoy it, please vote for one you did. I appreciate all feedback so please let me know what you think.

Sammy


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